There and Back Again
by MBDTA
Summary: The final part of The Ainor out of Arda Quartet! Kelsey, Mandy and Nickel have finished high school and plan to pursue their lives, but something goes horribly wrong in Arda.
1. There and Back Again

**Chapter 1**

There and Back . . . Again

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Nickel's PoV**

"I'm so BORED!" Mandy hissed behind me. I nodded wearily. Mrs. Lee, our eighth period teacher, was talking, but everything went in one ear and out the other as I watched the clock. It was worse than in High School Musical 2 . . . though, thankfully, I was positive no one in our class was going to jump up singing, "What Time Is It".

In just five—or less—minutes, summer was going to begin. One could never tell by the clocks in our school what time it was, as they were always wrong. Plus, it wasn't just any summer we had coming. Five—or less—minutes and we would be on our way to becoming college freshmen. That's right. Five—or less—minutes and senior year would be over.

"While I'm sure you are all ready to 'broaden your minds' with college, there are a few things I would like to—SARAH CLUTHURS, IS THAT A CELLPHONE?!" Mrs. Lee barked. A tall, blonde in the back looked up, guilty look etched on her face.

"N-n-no, M-m-mrs. L-l-lee," she stammered, shaking her perfectly straightened hair out of her face. I smirked. How she ever got to be head cheerleader when she can hardly form a sentence, I'll never know.

Behind me, Mandy leaned forward. "15," She whispered. "14…"

"Now while school for all of you may almost be over," Mrs. Lee continued, strutting to the back and snatching Sarah's cellphone from her hands.

"10…9…"

"There are to be no cellphones in _my_ class."

"5…4…"

"Now before you go—"

"ONE!" Mandy shouted, leaping to her feet. Mrs. Lee and the rest of the class stared at her, Mrs. Lee looking livid.

"Now, see here, Miss Ralon," Mrs. Lee snapped. "What in—"And the bell rang. Some idiot (and if I ever find out who it was, I'll kill them) jumped up and screamed, "What time is it?" Thankfully, no one answered.

Mandy and I scrambled towards her locker, giggling and stopping several times to hug fellow seniors.

"HEY!" Katie and Gina shouted at us as we were separated by the crowd. "Senior party! Now! At my house! Remember?"

"We're coming!" Mandy and I shouted, grinning.

"You know, I really need to get this watch fixed," Mandy frowned as we (finally) reached her locker. She twirled the dial and popped the locker open to retrieve her tennis racquet.

"Yeah…you'll have plenty of time to do it this summer," I said lazily, leaning against some junior's locker. We headed to Mandy's car, which happened to be a Porsche (from the 80s), and sped off towards our friend's party.

"WE"RE FREE!" Mandy screamed at some friends, who were walking home, who yelled something back that we couldn't hear.

"Free until graduation," I sighed, leaning against my seat dreamily. Mandy laughed in agreement and accelerated on the gas pedal, racing off.

Even though we had left school quickly, we arrived in time to meet up with a couple friends, including—

"Kelsey!!" Mandy leapt at her, hugging her fiercely. Kelsey laughed and stepped back from Mandy. She had never been one to like guys, but when we got back from Middle Earth, she found Jacob. He was very cute, with dark brown, well combed hair, and Kelsey fell in love with him as soon as she laid eyes on him.

Inside, we ran into Isaac, Mandy's long-time boyfriend. She squealed and leapt at him, enveloping him in a hug. The two of them always thought it odd that I never dated anyone, but I had my reasons. Mandy and Kelsey, however, were now in love with a person per universe, if you get my drift.

Either way, I was determined to have fun at our senior party…even if there wasn't a whole lot to do. There was some dancing, a Lord of the Rings marathon, and even a point where some party crashers handed Mandy some achohal. She had a swig, thinking it was Sprite, and promptly crashed out on her boyfriend.

* * *

At 2:00 am, with Mandy sleeping on her backseat and Kelsey dozing off in shotgun, I drove Mandy's car over to my house, pulling into the driveway of my house about 30 minutes later. We woke Mandy, and then quietly made our way to the room above my garage. 

As Mandy and Kelsey set up some blankets from the futon, I looked over the room. Something felt different. The floor was still slippery polished wood, and the windows were open slightly, allowing a slight breeze in. But it felt stuffy inside.

"Wow…" Mandy sighed sleepily, rolling on her back. "We're in college now."

"Not until graduation," Kelsey corrected, just as sleepy, rolling to face me. "Am I right?" I didn't answer, but frowned, something was wrong.

The room began spinning uncontrollably. Kelsey grabbed the wall, trying to steady herself.

"Nickel, what are you doing?" Kelsey yelped, pitching forward.

"I'm not doing anything!" I felt sick, like we were on a boat in the middle of a storm. Mandy rolled from side to side of the room, groaning and mumbling. I reached for her hand, looking up at Kelsey. "But someone's pulling us back into Middle Earth!"

"What!" Kelsey and Mandy yelled.

"Who?" Mandy asked just as Kelsey asked, "Why?"

I looked around at them, trying to appear serious, but fell over as soon as I stood up, "I don't know, but they're doing a horrible job of it!"

We stumbled to the stairs, tripping down them, escaping a bit of the shaking.

I sat on my hammock as a lull came over the earth, "I have a rather educated guess, though."

"Who?" Mandy asked just as Kelsey said, "Why?"

A loud noise shook the earth and the stars grew bright as the sun in daylight. A thousand suns glimmered and burned, forcing me to close my eyes tightly. And then the light let up.

"Mandy?" I called, looking around, "Kelsey? Where are you guys?"

"They aren't here, Nicole."

I spun around to see a sight I never thought I'd see again.

* * *

Tada! Sorry for the High School Musical 2 reference - Mandy wrote that (she has younger siblings who have been enthralled by the evil) 

Well, yeah. This is part four of the Ainor out of Arda. We had this nice long author's note at the begining of Monarchs, but I don't really see anypoint in doing the same again. I just want to mention that alot has changed since we strated writing this fic, and alot of things we thought would happen are now impossible.


	2. Mandy is a Felon

**Reveiws: **

**Queen Islanzadi:** Yes you are, have a peanut butter bar . . . They sound really good from the recipe.

**Remember to Feel Real:**Penelope shows up somewhere around chapter six . . . or seven . . . something like that. Poor thing. She was only going to be in the one psycic scene, but . . .. yeah, that would be revealing plot secrets. Let's just say she generated a life of her own and is currently cowering in her car in fear that Glorfindel will find her. Not my fault, honestly.

**nightstarz:** were you worried they would stay away? Don't, they have too much of a hold on my mind. I have two oneshots written for after this fic, and I hav't even finished writing this fic yet. Agh!

**meagan:** ask me something so I have something to say! Agh! Ack! and Baubles!

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Chapter 2**

Mandy is a Felon

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**Kelsey's PoV**

"NICKEL!" I screamed, hurtling towards a dark floor headfirst. Mandy was snoring next to me, her hair flying straight up. Actually, it would've been funny if it wasn't my life I was worried about.

Then it was like we had hit an invisible barrier. Mandy stopped mid-air, her hair suddenly drooping, and still snoring. Then we floated gently down, like a feather, to the floor.

The floor was actually a dark, plush carpet, and the moment I hit it I sunk 4 inches. Somewhere beside me, I heard Mandy sigh, "Wow, Nickel, your blankets are really soft."

Slowly, I got to my feet, looking around. The walls were dark stone, and very tall. The ceiling had a single skylight from which, I guessed, we had fallen through. Mandy was sleeping on the floor, and Nicole…Nicole was nowhere to be found. It didn't help that something was moving in the shadows.

I knelt and tried to shake Mandy awake. It didn't work, and the shadowy things were getting closer. There were three of them, not tall, but not short, and they were headed for us.

"These are the ones He brought." One said. I frowned. They weren't like orcs. Quite the contrary, they wore uniforms and had human-like faces. In fact if I wasn't mistaken…

"Take them to the dungeons below." A second ordered, and I saw Mandy hoisted over the shoulders of a broad one while my arms were pinioned to my sides.

"Matt?" I asked cautiously. The second turned to me, and I caught a glimpse of its face. "The trumpet player, Matt? First chair?" Matt showed a sign of recognition, replaced immediately by a scowl. "Matt, where's Nicole? Where are we, Matt?"

"To the dungeons." And I was whisked away down several flights of stairs. The weird part was, I kept seeing faces I knew, like John (he played trombone) and Heather (a very nice flute player).

Not minutes later, the broad one with Mandy threw her into a cell far below the room we had arrived in. She bounced a bit, still asleep, then fell as limp as a rag doll.

"Hey, don't do that!" I snapped at him. He smirked at me, then pushed me in. They laughed at me, slammed the cell shut, and marched off, in perfect rhythm. I sighed.

Mandy sat up, " Wow, you're loud!" She finally noticed our surroundings, "Hey, this place looks kinda familiar . . ."

I stared at her, "When were you locked up in a dungeon, Amanda Marie! I'M FRIENDS WITH A FELON! HELP!"

Mandy watched me, frowning. "I was locked up in a dungeon before? COOL!"

I slapped my forehead and turned around to the bars. "How can we get out of here?"

Mandy shrugged. "Who knows? I really wish you had your bag though. I mean, that had everything, and I'm sure we could get out if here if we had it." She turned to me. "Where did that go anyway?"

"Back of my closet." I replied sheepishly.

Mandy rolled her eyes and played with a strand of hair. "There's got to be a way out of here."

**

* * *

Mandy's PoV**

About 5 hours later we still hadn't found a way out. However, we had found a peephole by cutting a stone out of the wall, which Kelsey was now pressed against.

"Hey! I can see Minas Morgul from here!" Kelsey pulled back a bit. "Yep, definitely Minas Morgul, we must be in caves dug around Shelob's old lair or something." Kelsey looked over at me and grinned. "You look terrible."

I grinned. "Right back at you." The guards didn't pay attention to us, and our appearance grew steadily worse as we tried to escape. My pajamas were ripped too close to certain places, and my hair looked worse than a lion's mane. Kelsey hadn't even changed into pajamas, and now her jeans were torn everywhere and her shirt had a long gash where the rock we had torn out had slashed her. However, her hair looked close to perfect, if not fairly frizzy.

Besides that, we hadn't seen Nickel since before we had dropped here. We'd tried asking about her, but the guards just laughed at us or told us to shut up.

"Well, finding where we are is certainly a start." I stayed positive. "Now we just—"

"Shh!" Kelsey clapped a hand over my mouth. "Someone's coming!" Sure enough, we could hear footsteps padding softly down the hall.

As fast as lightning, Kelsey snatched the rock from the ground and thrust it into the wall, where it fell out the other side. We shared a look.

"Sit there!" Kelsey ordered, and positioned me in front of the wall so that I hid our peephole. I leaned against it lazily, and Kelsey arranged herself on the mats we had as beds. We waited, watching silently.

A hooded figure appeared out of the dark, easily distinguished from the wall by a bright purple cloak.

Kelsey bolted to her feet and reached out through the bars, "Nickel!"

**

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Nicole's PoV**

"Finally!" I whispered, running at the bars and removing keys from my belt. I dug the key into the lock, forcing it to open. Wrong key.

"Nicole, where have you been?" Mandy demanded, moving forward.

I shoved another key into the lock, but it wouldn't even fit, so I flipped to the next one.

"The good thing is we're all right." Kelsey said grimly. "But how do we get out of here?"

I pushed the last key in the lock and turned. This time, the cell bars swung open.

Mandy launched herself at me, hugging me.

"Follow me," I said, slipping off. They followed. "I escaped a few days ago, but I couldn't find you, so I found a way out." We crept up some stairs. "It's not too far from here, and, if we hurry, we could make the new city of Minas Ithil before morning and…"

"Before they find we're gone." Mandy finished, but Kelsey frowned at me, like she knew I was hiding something.

"Minas Ithil?" She asked.

I stopped, "They built a new one - I'll tell you later, it's hard to explain."

We slipped into the open, past a few sleeping guards. Mandy paused looking around.

"Mandy, come back!" Kelsey hissed softly, but Mandy had wandered over to a stone with words on it.

"Mordor National Park…" She whispered. She turned to me. "Nicole? Why are we in Mordor?"

"Because that's where we were taken."

Mandy and I held an eyebrow battle. "Fine." She started down one way. "If you aren't going to say, then let's get out of here."

"Mandy?"

"Yes?"

"It's the other way."

**

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Kelsey's PoV**

"Are we there yet?"

"Mandy, you can see the city right there. Therefore, we are not there yet."

"Oh." There was a pause. "Are we there yet?" I grabbed Nickel to keep her from attacking Mandy. We had stayed up all night, and tempers were running thin.

"Look, we're almost to the gate." I said wearily. "After that, we can hopefully go sleep for a couple hours. Let's just…try…to stay calm."

"Stay calm!" Nicole almost snapped, trying to tear away from me. "How-can-I-stay-CALM?" I kept a firm grip on her wrist and one on Mandy, then pulled them firmly towards the gate. We were almost there, and so close to a soft, firm bed…

**

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Aragorn's PoV**

I paced along my bedroom, Arwen watching me with concern. Her dark eyes pierced me with sadness, and her dark hair cascaded gracefully down her shoulders and back.

"Estel," She said softly, standing and putting her hands on my shoulders. Her hands traced my face gently. "You need to relax and remove these sorrows from your heart." I enveloped her in a tight embrace, pressing my face against her shoulder.

A knock on the door almost broke my queen from my arms. I kissed her forehead, then called, "Come in!" The door opened, and a short guard appeared.

He bowed momentarily and hesitated to speak.

"Yes, soldier?" He nodded, face red as a beet.

"Sir, we have a . . . a disturbance at the wall . . ." He began, hesitating again. ". . . They're requesting you."

**

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Mandy's PoV**

"GOSH DARN IT ARAGORN!" I shouted, banging on the gate. "GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE!" The guard appeared over the gate, and trumpets sounded loudly.

"Lady Amanda, that will do." I looked up, blinking stupidly in the sun, to see Aragorn staring down at us.

"Aragorn!" Nickel shouted. "Let us in!"

"What in Arda happened to you?" He asked.

"We'll tell you once you let us in." Nickel snapped, practically screaming. Aragorn gestured and the gates opened slightly. "A little more please!" The gates creaked opened slightly more. "Thank you!"

I slipped through the gate after Nickel, with Kelsey behind me.

"Kelsey!" The three of us turned to see Haldir running at us. Kelsey's face broke into a smile, and she leapt at him. He caught her and swung her around, squeezing her tightly. I looked away and around, wondering if, maybe…

"Amanda!" I felt Legolas squeeze me from behind, kissing my neck gently and any other part of my skin he could reach.

"What is going on?" Aragorn asked Nicole, since she wasn't busy.

"We'll discuss everything with you all later." Nickel ordered, taking charge of the situation. "As you can see, we're very tired from our escape, so if you don't mind…"

**

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Haldir's PoV**

"Now just a moment," Kelsey turned away from me and turned the full force of her glare – a glare not unlike My Lady Galadriel's – and stalked toward Nicole, "You tell us right now what's going on!"

"Well . . . er . . . could we go somewhere a bit more private?" Nicole asked, turning to Aragorn.

"Oh . . . of course."

* * *

What is Nickel's secret? Dum Dum dum! yeah . .. whatever. There's really no secret. everyone but Kelsey knows already - though Mandy forgot . . . and there's extra stuff. But anyone smart could figure it out. Maybe I'm overestimating your grasp of my mind though . .. most people don't get my logic. Oh whatever, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, the next one should be up on Monday, since that's my birthday. yay! If you reread fallowship, you'll see that Mandy posted on my birthday once. it was a really short chapter. 


	3. Attack

**Reveiws: **

**Mandi:** Glad to see you are alive again.

**Queen Islandzadi:** I'm really not supposed to tell you, but if you take two to the fourth power, multiply that times 65, divied by thirteen and take one fifth of the answer, you will know. (Was that confusing enough?)

**nightstarz:** well, after the sequel (which is at least twenty or so chapters, maybe up to forty?) there are three related one shots of after math kindof stuff - romances about different characters, our departure to Valinor and stuff like that. We like to think we'll be there forever . . . unless something bad happens. but we'll make Mandy and Legolas's children deal with it. (since Legolas is soo brave and Mandy is so skilled at saving the world.)

**Remember to Feel Real:** My brother plays Clarinet . . . well, bass clarinet. It gets really annoying sometimes when he practices . . .

**Meagan:** no, Nickel is not pregnant. Matt isn't so much evil, as he is suffering from mind control. and Kelsey's hair is perfect because it reflects how perfectly clam, cool and collected she is even when trying to murder someone. (not that Kelsey has ever attempted murder . . .) I can't tell you, because I don't know what i was doing. A random character attacked my story and stole the spotlight!

**Belle Jeune Fille Sans Merci:** could you have picked a longer name? And a "soft, firm bed" is one that is fuzzy kind of soft, but has a pretty had mattress . . . like a really mossy rock?

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**Chapter 3**

Attack

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**Nickel's PoV **

We stood in a throne room rather too similar to the one in Minas Tirith for my taste . . . bad memories . . . you get the idea. Everyone sat down and stared at me expectantly. Aragorn and Arwen sat on thrones that looked MUCH more comfortable than the old thrones in Minas Tirith. Legolas sat on a couch along one wall, Mandy asleep against his side, and Kelsey sat bolt upright next to Haldir on . . . the steward's . . . LOVE SEAT?

"Start talking, Nickel."

I looked at them all, and then sat cross-legged on the floor. There was no way I was going to stay standing through this. "All right," I began, "It goes like this. As you know Kelsey, Amanda and I are . . . er . . . were guardians of Morgoth in his prison of the utter dark. Three years ago . . . or . . . something like that, we were . . . returned to Arda . . . and the bonds set by the Valar upon Morgoth were broken. He returned to Middle Earth."

Legolas and Haldir scowled.

"I don't understand," Mandy began, her face flushed from exhaustion. "We've been watching over Ernie? How can we when I just learned of this?"

"Subconciousness." I replied simply. "The Ainor part of you was keeping Ernie in check." I paused a moment, "Didn't we go over this _last_ time we were in Middle Earth?" Mandy flushed and leaned back against Legolas, who put his arm around her again.

"Anyway," I paused, searching for the right way to say enough to get me off the hook, "We are probably here because he is."

"Wait," Kelsey scrutinized my face, seeing my unwillingness, "You're not telling us something."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mandy stand.

"I don't know about the rest of you," she began, her legs shaking from exhaustion as she crossed the room to me. "But I know that Nicole, Kelsey and I have been up all night. If you don't mind, I'm going to bed, and I'm taking Nicole. We've been through too much tonight for this to last any longer." With that, she hauled me to my feet and dragged me out of the room, muttering under her breath.

Kelsey followed, and eventually tore me away from Mandy.

"What aren't you telling us?" She asked angrily, "Mandy may not care, but if it-"

"It's not important, Kelsey." I told her, "It doesn't affect what's happening right now - well not enough to matter. I just don't want to incriminate my purely innocent source of information."

"How can you be sure?" She asked.

I smiled, "Because I know, Kelsey."

**

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Mandy's PoV**

Even though I normally _never_ sleep long, I slept from noon until around dawn the next day. When I got out of bed, I immediately walked sleepily over to the washroom. Thankfully, there was some type of plumbing in Minas Ithil, because I was able to turn a faucet and water began to fill the medium-sized tub. I put one foot in and almost cracked up laughing. The dirt and grime all over me was disgusting, and there was no way I wanted to soak in dirt-clogged water. So I rinsed, stepped out, then filled the tub up again before sinking slowly into the tub.

Afterwards, using some very fluffy towels, I found at least 3 dresses in a trunk at the foot of the bed—Arwen liked to make her guests feel at home, thankfully. Grabbing the most impractical, I pulled it on and ran out to find Kelsey or Nickel.

Well, Kelsey was in the tub, and even ran me out of her room with nothing but a towel on, and Nickel was meditating…or something. I couldn't tell as she was doing it by standing on her head. So I made my way to the outer wall. Some guards made a snide comment or two about a woman being on the wall, but I ignored them and pressed on.

It was a gorgeous day—sunny, blue skies that warmed me and a light breeze that whipped my dress around my ankles. Mordor was far away, it seemed, and even though Morgoth was preparing to destroy everything, it seemed that nothing could ruin my day. Not even the crowd that was growing in the distance…wait, what?

"What is that?" I poked a nearby guard. He scowled at me. "No, seriously. What is that? And…oh Valar…" Thousands of instruments had begun to play, loudly and annoyingly, but there was a rhythm one could hear, even from this far back.

"They're coming." I told the guard calmly, who now looked bewildered. "Oh…wait…THEY"RE COMING!" I screamed, running away from the wall. I darted down several staircases and even nabbed a horse from some little boy, clambering up towards the castle part of Minas Ithil.

Once at the doors, I burst it and ran to the throne room. Even though the seriousness of the situation was dire, I still did an Aragorn-like entrance, with swagger and everything. It probably looked odd in a dress though.

Everyone in the throne room looked up. Aragorn had been poring over some large pieces of parchment, Legolas, Gimli and Haldir at his side. Kelsey and Nickel were sitting in the corner, staring at me curiously. A guard or two started towards me, but with a look from Aragorn ceased.

"Hang on, let me catch my breath," I panted, and all of them began to return to their previous activities. "Okay, I'm good." They all looked up again, and I stood up straight.

"The bands are coming." The reactions were quite different, if not extremely out of the ordinary. Rather than take this as bad news, Gimli looked back down at the parchment. Aragorn pressed his fingers to his temples. Nickel leapt up and swore (something I had yet to hear), only to be reprimanded with a hit from Kelsey. Legolas looked simply confused, and Haldir wore a look of concern.

"What is a 'band'?" Legolas asked, frowning.

"Did you ever go to a football game in high school?" Kelsey asked rhetorically. "They're a group of people who play instruments and—"

"They're mental!" Nickel interrupted. "They're…they're being controlled by Morgoth." She looked at Aragorn. "Under normal circumstances I'd tell you not to worry about them, but as there's more than one high school band out there …" Aragorn nodded, then looked at a guard standing beside him.

"Tharion, the men?"

"Yes your highness, they will be ready soon" Tharion replied, bowing.

"Then assemble them."

**

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Kelsey's PoV**

"If we don't get Ernie back to Earth, I don't think he'll ever be Ernie again." Mandy commented sadly from her place on the wall.

"What?" Nickel asked her, not realizing what she'd said.

"That's what we have to do!" I whispered, so that no one around us could hear me. "We have to get Morgoth back to Earth! That's what we were sent for, isn't it? Taking care of Morgoth? Only…" I paused, frowning. "We've failed, and he's become Morgoth again." Nickel seemed hesitant, watching me.

"That means we have to get him out of here," Mandy began. "And we can't come back, 'cause we have to keep him from ever getting back here again." Then her words sunk in, and she looked over at Legolas and sighed.

I reached over and patted her arm. "No one else can know of this plan, because they'll try to stop us and kill Ernie."

Mandy took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay."

The three of us turned to each other.

"We have to go out there," Nickel said softly when none of us moved.

Mandy nodded faintly, "Okay."

* * *

So I decided to finally update - sorry I took so long, I just kept forgeting. I'm having fun right now. Only Gina understands why. Haha. I advise people to start rereading Fellowship of the Freaks and catch up on all the random characters - you'll need to know them. We are gonna test ya'all like ninth grade English! 


	4. Minas Ithil: A History

**Reviews: **

**Queen Islanzadi:** never mind. And as for rereading, you have a point. hmmm . . . . I just hope you're good at remembering minor characters.

**Remember to Feel Real:** I don't know . . . my dog's more afraid of the bass . . . must be the fact that it's so big. makes a great weapon, don't you think?

**gina:** I know. You told me all about it. And if I didn't know, I'd go to your pagey-doodle and then I'd know, so ha!

**meagan: **no twenty questions? I must be getting good at explaining stuff . . . everyband in the world, meagan. He's an evil overlord, you know. Over being the operative word.

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**Author's Note:**WARNING! This chapter contains insane band people. They are under the influence of an evil being of a higher nature than themselves. Please pardon any band related insults. It's not our fault the band people were acting weirder than normal. If this is how band people normally act, don't tell us. We like to think they're all nice, insane people who don't take baths in root beer. Thank you.

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**Chapter 4**

Minas Ithil: A History

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Mandy's PoV**

I stayed by Legolas's side, even though I knew it would only make me miss him more. I clasped his hand tightly, so tightly that at one point he leaned down to speak in my ear.

"If you are worried about the war," He whispered. "Do not be. Just stay by me." He flashed me a smile, and I just squeezed his hand tighter.

Now, I've been to several football games, but this was the first time I'd seen band members in their natural habitat. They were playing off-key and shouting raucously, drowning themselves in Dr. Pepper and Root Beer. I grimaced, as did Legolas, since sensitive ears were prone to being irritated by the noises.

I was at the front of the wall, watching as Morgoth strutted in front of his army, brandishing his red, glowing sword. I gulped, realizing what suicide our plan actually was.

"Attack, my band, ATTACK!" All at once, I saw danger coming from some of the nerdiest kids in school. Cymbals became deadly, spinning razors. French horns became gun-like weapons, firing few but powerful bullets. Even drums were launched by catapults to destroy the city Minas Ithil. It would have been funny in a movie, but this was something else.

"Holy crap!" I shouted, watching the scene below as they marched forward to destroy everything in their path. "This is NOT what I expected!"

Suddenly, the back of my shirt was tugged on. I turned to see Kelsey.

"Lights." She whispered, "And don't ask me where Nickel got them."

"Band's only weakness!" I yelled as huge spotlights – a theatre person's dream, and Band nerd's annoyance – flooded the army below. They cowered and covered their eyes.

"And our distraction," Kelsey muttered. "Come on, I found a way out of here where we can get to Morgoth."

I ran after Kelsey and Nickel, hot on their heels. We ran down a couple of staircases and even lower into some tunnels under the city.

"It was finished a year or so ago to be the summer palace," Nickel informed us as we trudged underneath the battle, "Like a mini Minas Tirith."

"Geez," I heard Kelsey mutter. "Look who read "Minas Ithil; A History." I nearly lost it right there, tears forming in my eyes from wanting to laugh, but was forced by Kelsey to keep walking.

"Nearly there," Nickel whispered, but I stopped.

"What was that?" I hissed, listening for any sounds.

"What was what?" Kelsey asked. I peered into the darkness behind us.

"Nothing, I guess. But I could have sworn I heard someone following us."

"Probably a dog or something," Nickel shrugged it off and continued. I glanced behind us again, and followed.

The next staircase was only a few feet away, and we hurriedly climbed the steps, Nickel first. She opened the hatch above us and we climbed out. The battle was only feet from us, and I was frozen stiff against the wall, watching as cymbal blades drew closer to us.

Nickel raised her arms and pointed in a direction far opposite our destination. She muttered something I couldn't hear then announced, "FREE SODA! FREE DR. PEPPER, ROOT BEER, SPRITE AND COKE! FREE SODA!"

"Nickel!" Kelsey whispered frantically. "What are you doing?" But the crowds of marching bands all dropped their instruments and ran in the direction that she had pointed, eagerly looking for the free drinks.

"Nice job." I muttered under my breath. Nickel grinned.

"I thought one last trick before I go would be sufficient." Then her face grew serious again. "Come on." We ran along with the band members, casually mingling as we searched for Morgoth.

"Do you see him?" I whispered to Kelsey.

"Not yet…"

"He's there!" Nickel whispered. We turned to see Morgoth standing not ten feet away and screaming, his face red.

"THERE IS NO FREE SODA!" He screamed. "YOU FOOLS ARE BEING TRICKED!" We melted out of the crowd, hurrying towards him. Nickel began chanting the spell that would send us back to Earth, as Kelsey and I ran to grab a hold of him somehow. Which is where I stopped. A band member had just sprinted in front of me, looking oddly familiar.

"Isaac?" I asked, confused. "What are you doing here? Are you working for Morgoth?" He didn't answer me, so I did the only logical thing I could think of doing—I tackled him.

"Stop…struggling!" I panted, my arms around his waist. "What…are you…doing here?"

**

* * *

Nickel's PoV**

The world began to spin again. Kelsey had a handful of Morgoth's cloak, who hadn't noticed because he was still yelling, and was grasping my hand. Mandy on the other hand…

"MANDY!" I screamed. "GET OFF HIM!" At this, Morgoth turned to see Kelsey and me.

"You!" He hissed, trying to rip away from Kelsey, but she held on fast.

"Oh no you don't!" She yelled back, jerking his cloak back so that Morgoth fell to the ground. What I saw next made my heart sink. Legolas was on the field, peeling Mandy away from her earthly boyfriend with the help of Haldir. They both made a lunge for us, lurching this way and that as the world continued to spin.

"DON"T!" I screamed at them, but it was too late. The world was beginning to grow brighter, and brighter…until we were engulfed in it and there was no turning back.

**

* * *

**Cliffies! yeah! yah? how on earth do you spell that. Gina? A little help.

Anyway's, that was a traumatic experiance I never want to live through again. :-)

Revoisez si vous plait! (pardon my spelling/grammar. . .)


	5. Vacuums in Movie Theatres

**Reveiws: **

**Nightstarz:** you have no idea how bad he's got it.

**Queen Islanzadi:** I hope this was fast enough . . . hello? hello?

**Gina:** and you know what happens anyways . . . I think I'll write more today instead of just posting. have you seen the new beta reader thing? Login - it's amazing.

**Remember to Feel Real:** ouch. just thought I'd let you know that your character was supposed to be in only one scene - stubborn little thing. . . .she went and found Sauron, hijacked the story and currently has Glorfindel in the backseat of her car . . . congrats.

**Chapter 5**

Vacuums in Movie Theatres

**Kelsey's PoV**

"Make it stop!" Mandy was whimpering, holding on to Legolas. We were hurtling down towards a roof, and the odd thing was the roof was opening for us to fall through. Morgoth was struggling, flying behind us, but I refused to let go.

"We are going to crash!" Wait…why was Haldir here? And Legolas too? What happened before we left?

I braced myself as the floor was coming closer. I recognized it as the floor to Nickel's room above her garage—hard, polished, wood floor. I shut my eyes, preparing for the crash. We paused right above the floor, and then we all dropped like rocks.

"OW! That was my foot!"

"Sorry, I didn't—MY HAIR!"

"Sorry, but—OUCH!"

"Everyone, SHUT UP!" I looked up to see Nickel untangling herself from the pile. She was studying us and was obviously not happy with what she saw.

"You two!" She pointed at the elves. "Why did you come?" I heard one of them gulp.

"Nicole, we saw you three sneaking off," Haldir began. "And when we saw you disappear into the tunnels, we thought the worse and decided to follow to see if we could help."

"I told you there was somebody following us!" Mandy's muffled voice mumbled. Nickel ran her fingers through her hair.

"Kelsey, drag Morgoth to the couch."

"Morgoth? Who's Morgoth?" I turned to see Ernie sitting there, dumbstruck.

I helped him up and sat him on the couch.

"He's back to his earthly self." Nicole sounded relieved.

"And us?" Legolas asked.

"You two have no alter-egos here, so you remain as you are." Nicole replied. "Although I think your ears may be shrinking." Both instinctively reached for their ears to feel them. "Gotcha!"

"Nickel?" Mandy asked, frowning. "Have you wondered how we're going to explain the arrival of three people to your mom?"

"Seriously guys, who's this Morgoth guy?" Ernie asked. Nicole walked over to him, and then hit him over the head with a chair. He slumped over unconscious.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked warily.

"He was annoying me," She justified.

"So you knock people unconscious when they annoy you?" Mandy asked.

"Pretty much."

"Ok."

Nickel paced a bit more. "Um…Legolas, Haldir, your ears really are shrinking . . . not literally!" She amended, receiving their glares, "But the aura or – oh screw it! You do have an alter ego!"

"WHAT?" Legolas and Haldir looked stunned, just as Kelsey and Mandy yelled, "WHO?"

Nickel stood, grinning. "You mean you don't know?" At this moment a voice could be heard from below.

"GIRLS! It's 2:00 in the morning! I know you just graduated, but could you keep it down?" Nickel jumped and ran to the door, sticking her head out.

"Yes ma'am!" She called softly, and then shut the door quietly. We were all silent for a moment, and then I clapped my hands together.

"Well, let's not sit here talking then." I advised. "Let's get some shut-eye while we can." Nickel nodded, throwing blankets and pillows out of the wicker trunk. Haldir snuggled on the large chair in the corner and I bunkered down on the futon with Nicole. Mandy was already asleep on top of Legolas, so he shifted a bit by arranging some pillows and blankets awkwardly before he too fell asleep.

"Night y'all."

**Nickel's PoV**

"Let's do something fun today." Mandy cheered from her spot on the futon between Kelsey and I. Don't ask me how she got there.

"What?" I asked her, "We have to get our job done."

"We've got time." She drawled, "Let your hair down a bit, Nickel!"

"Don't you have a date with Isaac sometime today or tomorrow?" I asked, recalling the plans she had made…and had talked about non-stop.

"A . . . date?" Legolas asked, sitting up seemingly uninterested, though his ears were turning red. Mandy flushed as red as his ears, no doubt wondering how she'd get out of this mess.

"Nickel…I don't date guys who try to attack the good guys," Mandy snapped, and Legolas's ears returned to their normal color.

"Well . . ." I thought for a moment. "I guess we could do something . . ."

"GREAT!" Mandy leapt to her feet and grabbed some paper from my desk. "I thought we could go to the movies today, and maybe even run by Moody Gardens on Saturday, and-"

"Have you thought of where we're going to let the guys stay?" Kelsey asked, "My house is out since my mom and dad are visiting Shelby up North. I'm not even allowed to let Nicole in when I water the plants!"

"Same with my house!" Mandy called, still writing frantically at my desk. She looked up momentarily and grinned. "You know my sisters and brother. Even if I snuck Legolas in, my siblings would find out and tell."

"True…" I shrugged. "Well, we could hide them in here since dad and Andy are camping for the next week and really, my mom will avoid this room like the plague while Kelsey and I are up here for the week."

"Awesome!" Mandy yelped, then leapt up and waved the list in the air. "Ok, so here are our choices . . ."

**Kelsey's PoV**

We finally narrowed our list down to a few simple things to do. Today, Mandy, Legolas, Haldir and I were going to see a movie. Mandy was all for seeing some silly movie with Will Ferrell, but we eventually settled on a cute, romantic comedy. Thankfully, these guys didn't care about chick flicks.

Nickel voted on remaining with Ernie, in order to explain to him what happened and who Morgoth was. When I voiced that this was probably not a great idea, she went into a long explanation that my tired mind could NOT follow.

Thankfully, Nickel's dad and brother were camping, so she snuck into her house and grabbed some over-sized T-shirts and jeans. Both jeans were about an inch too short and significantly too large, but their boots covered the distance and Nickel had belts. With some help, Mandy managed to convince Legolas to stuff his hair into a hat and Haldir wore his in a long, rather sexy ponytail.

So the four of us all squished into Mandy's tiny car and drove off to the movies. Haldir sat with me in the back, and he was holding on so tightly to the seat that his knuckles were turning white. I patted his arm comfortingly, but he didn't relax.

"So . . ." Legolas began, acting as though he'd driven in cars all his life. "Who is this Isaac character?"

"No one." Mandy replied coolly, glancing in the rearview mirror. "Haldir, you don't need to hold so tight onto the armrest. This car is perfectly safe, even if it is over 20 years old." She glanced at her elf. "What, are you jealous?"

Legolas's ears turned a brilliant shade of red, and he scowled. "No."

"It's ok if you are," Mandy continued. "But he was just a sweet guy, and we did go out a couple of times . . ."

"You were with someone other than me?" Legolas sounded very hurt, and I was glad that Jacob hadn't come into the conversation yet.

"Well . . ." Mandy turned the corner sharply, sending Haldir into me. "Whoops! Sorry Haldir!" She slowed down slightly. "Legolas, Isaac was just a friend. Ok, a little more than a friend," She added, catching the look on his face. "But the point is he's not with me anymore, and you are." She stopped at a stoplight and leaned over to him. "I love you."

"Mandy!" I snapped, "Green light!"

Legolas sighed deeply and leaned against the seat. Mandy turned back to the road and ignored him for the rest of the drive. By the time we got to the theatre, the only sounds were Kelly Clarkson belting out "Never Again" and Haldir's whimpering as he clutched my arm.

"Haldir, I swear I have never seen anyone as scared as you . . . except for maybe when Mandy realized we were going through the caves of the dead," I commented teasingly. He shuddered, still shaken as we climbed the stairs for our tickets.

Once in the movie theatre, Mandy attempted to engage Legolas in a talk, and soon they were whispering quietly to each other. Haldir, on the other hand, slipped his arm around me and kissed the side of my head.

"I love you, Kelsey." He whispered. I grinned and leaned against him as his other hand grasped mine tightly.

The movie started, and I was thrown into a world of amusement as Haldir kept exclaiming about the size of the screen and the fact that there were moving people on a flat screen.

"It is like magic!" He exclaimed loudly, causing some junior high kids to start giggling from the row in front of us. I couldn't hear much of the movie, though. It sounded as though someone was vacuuming the seats beside us.

"Mandy!" I hissed, poking her. "Mandy, what's that . . . oh." I turned away and tried to enjoy the rest of the movie in silence.

**Mandy's PoV**

"Well, that was certainly a cute movie," I said, grinning as we stepped out into the night, Legolas's arm around my waist. Kelsey all ready had her cell phone out.

"I'm going to call Nickel and tell her we're coming," She said, pressing a button for speed dial. Haldir stared in wonder at her phone.

"You can contact people on this . . . this small thing?" He asked, amazed.

Kelsey nodded absentmindedly, "Uh huh." She pressed the phone to her ear. "Nickel? Hey! Movie's over . . . yeah . . . It was ok, except that Mandy kept making noises that sounded like a vacuum cleaner with Legolas . . ."

"HEY!" I snapped, lunging for her phone. She dodged and continued talking.

"Yeah, Mandy's gonna drop us off. We'll see you in a bit . . . what? Oh, okay, Bye!" She hung up, pushing the phone into her jeans. She looked over at me. "What?"

"Nothing." I looked up at Legolas and he kissed me.

"Oh stop it." Kelsey moaned, and threw her empty coke at us. I looked over at her, grinning, then turned back to Legolas. "Seriously, Mandy, We need to get home! I want to take a shower and Nickel said she had a surprise for us!"

"Ok . . . just give me . . . one more . . . minute . . . WAIT, a surprise? Not another one!"

"Do I look like I know what it is?"

**Author's Note**

yea! This chapter was supposed to be two chapters, but the title for the first one was lame and I really can't wait for the next couple of chapters - all the fun stuff starts to happen then! So you guys get two in one! Yippee! What is Nickel's surprise? Hmmm . . . Kelsey is going to get a rude awakening - perhaps because I just forgot to tell her a little something . . . poor girl. The vacuum cleaner noise thing was something I came up with way back - we thought it was mildly amusing. Kelsey didn't though (as you can see). R&R!


	6. The Return of the Lunch Meat

**Reveiws: **

**Gina: **check your connections in the docX - we can be computer buddies! 

**Queen islanzadi:** Well, you're lucky i'm on brek right now, and so have a lot of free time to post. 

**nightstarz:** In case you hadn't noticed, i don't like Legolas much. (smiles) he bothers me for some reaon. Maybe it's that everyone else like him so much . . . enjoy! oh, and it's good to find someone else who finds selling tedious. 

**Chapter 6**

The Return of the Lunch Meat

**Nickel's PoV **

I sat on the floor, rather bored, keeping an eye on Ernie. He had fallen asleep, but I didn't doubt he was even now trying to return to Arda. 

"_Túla enardo, mel_." [Come from Middle Earth, love. I whispered. 

"_Túle im_" [I have come came the voice I most wanted to hear. 

"Shhh." I whispered to Glorfindel, "Morgoth sleeps and I do not want to wake him." 

Glorfindel sighed, "Do you know how annoying that is, dear?" 

"Yeah, I do. What do they say in Arda of Morgoth's return?" 

"Is that what you called me for?" 

"No." I pouted, "I just wondered." 

Glorfindel took my hands and pulled me over to the futon, where we sat down together. "Rumor comes from Valinor. They say that if nothing is done, they will have to call on Eru as they did when men became too daring." 

I grimaced, "What will happen then?" 

"They do not know. But if Morgoth cannot be destroyed, they will have to send you three back or at least keep you on the edge." 

"Then I won't be able to-"

"See me, I know, but you three were the best for the job and no one else will really do."

I gasped, "THEY THINK-"

Ernie grunted and rolled over. 

I lowered my voice, "They think we were the best? Why would they think that?" 

"You know very well why." Glorfindel gave me a look. 

"Because with your death, we three had no real ties to Arda save descending in the first place – but now we do." 

"That isn't their fault." 

Suddenly, my phone rang the sounds of Beethoven's ninth filling the room. I jumped up and grabbed it before Ernie could wake up. 

"Hello? . . . Did you get good seats? . . . How was it? . . . WHAT! She's getting a lecture when you guys get back! . . . Oh! . . . And I have a surprise for you! Bye!" I hung up. 

"Are your conversations always that sporadic?" Glorfindel asked. 

"No," I threw a pillow at him, "We just didn't have much to say." 

"So what's your surprise for them?" 

"YOU!" Glorfindel jumped out of the way as Ernie woke up and dove at him. 

"Ernie, Melkor, Morgoth, whoever you are, down, now!" I yelled, whacking him on the head, "No eat Glorfindel!" 

Ernie subsided into muttering until Mandy's car came screeching into my driveway. 

I stuck my head out the window, "Mandy, keep it down! My neighbor spies on us!" 

The foursome crept upstairs and into the room. 

"Now what's your – whoa, Glorfindel!" Haldir stared at Glorfindel as he helped Kelsey up the stairs and onto a chair. 

"Yeah – why is he here?" Kelsey asked, "I thought we wanted to kick the elves out, not bring them in." 

Legolas looked merely grumpy. 

"Alright, as you know, this is Glorfindel." 

"Hi, Glorfindel!" Mandy waved. 

"And Glorfindel, as you don't know," I continued, "Is my husband . . . yeah." 

This was met by a brief, but very awkward silence. 

"Since when?" Legolas asked. 

"Er . . . since the first age, actually." Glorfindel told him. 

"That's not fair!" Mandy whined. 

"Has Legolas proposed yet?" Glorfindel asked her. 

Mandy glanced at Legolas, turning rather red, "Well, no, not really." 

"Well there you go." I told her, "If he asks, go ahead." 

"Why weren't we invited?" Kelsey asked. 

"Because," I told her, "We didn't know you and Mandy then! Actually, I did, but you guys were busy – fighting the enemy and all that." 

"So why is he here?" Haldir asked. 

Glorfindel sighed dramatically. 

"You know all those times I'd tell you and Gina that Glorfindel did it, or hold the door for no one?" I asked Mandy. She nodded, "That would be because Glorfindel was there. 

"Then how come I couldn't see him?" She asked. 

"Because I made him invisible to all but me." 

"I thought you couldn't do magic on earth." Kelsey said slowly. 

"When have I ever said that?" 

Kelsey and Mandy subsided into silence. Haldir, however, was another matter. 

"So Glorfindel visits you?" He asked. 

"No!" Glorfindel said, "Well, yes, but I'm not technically here – not like you and Legolas are. It's a bit like being dead." 

There was an awkward silence. 

"Glorfindel kept me posted on Arda." I told everyone, "I knew about Ernie before we were sucked back into Arda – Glorfindel told me at the senior party."

"It was very loud." Glorfindel commented, "And Mandy drank something and fell onto some guy. It was odd." 

"Thank you, Glorfindel, for the play by play." Mandy said through gritted teeth, turning purple. 

"But the point is," I told everyone, "the Valar don't know what to do about Morgoth. We're all alone."

"WHAT?" Haldir and Legolas looked panicky, Mandy and Kelsey just a bit annoyed. 

"Well they got us in this mess to begin with." Kelsey kicked the futon, "breaking the void open and shoving Morgoth out, they could have just chained him again." 

"It makes me wonder if the world isn't falling apart." Mandy added. 

I stared at her, "That would be bad." 

Glorfindel cleared his throat, "I think it would be best to see if we can contact Eru." 

"Got it!" Kelsey exclaimed, "Come on, Haldir!" They raced down the stairs. 

"Where are they going?" Legolas asked. 

"Church." Mandy and I answered, "Where else do you speak to Eru?" I asked. 

"Erm . . ." 

"I thought so." I looked around, "While Kelsey and Haldir are supplicating Eru somebody needs to guard Morgoth while I gather supplies." 

"What sort of supplies?" Mandy asked. 

"Oh . . . you wanted to have fun, right?" 

"Yeah . . ." 

"That sort of supplies." 

"Oh."

"Can I have a cookie?" 

"Sure, Glorfindel. There's a couple of chocolates in the mini fridge if you want them." 

"Thank you."

Mandy watched Glorfindel apprehensively as he perused the minifridge, "So you've been seeing him?" 

Glorfindel turned around, "I can hear you, you know." 

Mandy blushed and muttered something. 

"Watch Morgoth." I told her, "Come on Glorfindel." 

"Wait!" Mandy cried out, "You're taking him with you?" 

"Yes." 

Mandy couldn't think of anything more to say. I left, feeling rather smug, Glorfindel following me. 

**Author's note:**

Yea! my husband's back. And everyone knows how happy that makes me. i am proud to announce that i acctuallly wrote more the other day instead of just updating. tehe. It's been ages since i wrote anything. Glorfindel is very happy to be back, aren't you, honey? he does wish more people would reveiw . . . what was that, Glor? oh . . . Glorfindel would like to know if anyone out there likes him better thn legolas. He's feeling sad. Being deminonexistant does that to people. **I'm not the least bit nonexistant.** that's nice, Glorfindel, go pour me a glass of milk. 

Sorry about that. R&R!


	7. Reminiscing Over Evil Mannequins

**Reviews:**

**Meagan:** No, his sword is a sword, glowing red, kindof sciminarish and very deadly. Trees don't like it. You aren't afrain of lights, you just find them incredibly annoying. And the nature of the band army is that all a bands strengths and weaknesses are magnified. We needed someway to get rid off you guys and anyways, Mandy wrote most of that chapter. Yes as in Andrew. and I told you, she's not pregnant! Glorfindel is there because I summoned him and because I luv him so much . . . it's sappy, you don't want to know. Well, I'm sure they would. What do you mean by "what leggy does"? what other story? 

**Gina:** is it right now? 

**Queen Islanzadi:** that makes him sad, but I guess you have to know him to love him - the people who do have to deal with him everyday (excluding myself)

**nightstarz:** Yes, the bow and arrow stuff is cool, I guess. I prefere guys who don't stay dead - he can keep up with the fact the Nickel can't really die anyways. Ernie sleeps alot. 

**Remember to Feel Real:** I'm sorry, it's more the fact that it's her own world that she's in, and she understands that there's no one to clean up if they mess up I think . . . but that doesn't mean she's not having fun! Actually I think Glorfindel is rubbing off on her. Meagan wanted to know why his name is Paul - she doesn't understand my argument that nobody really has a choice over their name . . . 

**Chapter 7**

Reminiscing Over Evil Mannequins 

**Nickel's PoV**

I trotted into the house, smiling brightly at my mother, who was repotting the plants. She waved happily and returned to her little world. Glorfindel pitied her. I thought she looked kind of cute with all that dirt on her - like she was the kid. Inside, I turned on the computer and put some water on to boil. Glorfindel got out some teabags and mugs. He busied himself making tea while I logged on and opened the internet browser. In seconds, I had yahoo up and was checking my mail. Glorfindel came in with the tea and a stack of toast. 

"Should I bring some up to the others?" He asked. 

I glanced at the clock, four PM, "No, there are snacks up there if they're hungry." 

He shrugged and pulled up a wheelie chair. I briefly remembered the first time Glorfindel had met these "fearsome beasts". He had ended up severely bruised, but it was his pride that had hurt the most. I had spent my entire Christmas break trying to keep Glorfindel from breaking all the wheelie chairs in our house. He eventually learned to use the things, and had found such pleasure in rolling around the first story of my house, that he had broken a chair. 

I munched my toast, opening up a new tab and typing in the address to a very special site. 

"Do we have to watch this again?" Glorfindel asked, still delicate in his eating habits, he didn't have a stuffed mouth. 

I choked down my toast with a sip of scalding tea, "No, we are going to contact her." 

Glorfindel looked a bit apprehensive, "Nickel, I do not think that is a good idea . . ." 

"What can it hurt to have a psychic helping us?" 

"She is obviously crazy." 

I sighed, if you won't let me hire a professional, I'll have to call in an amateur." 

Glrofindel groaned, "Not, Penelope." 

I grinned evilly, "Yes, Penelope." And began to type. 

**Kelsey's PoV**

"I don't understand!" Haldir quaked in the backseat of Mandy's car as I accelerated to 45. 

"What don't you understand?" I called, letting to top down. 

He whimpered a bit then gathered himself. It couldn't be worse than Helm's Deep - where he had nearly died. "What does a building have to do with contacting Eru?" 

"Absolutely nothing." I replied gleefully, adding to his confusion. I pulled into the parking lot at my church, "There are people here who are professionals at contacting Eru."

"Oh." He gratefully leapt out of the car, undeniably graceful, and had the car door open before I had put the keys away, "Onward then." 

I smiled, "Yes, onward." 

The church was busy with people getting ready for the next day - I go to a well prepared church - but it wasn't too much of a problem getting to see the pastor. 

"Hello, Kelsey!" Pastor Robbins called out, "Could your friend there help me with this? He looks pretty tall from where I'm standing." 

That was saying something as Pastor Robbins is as tall as Haldir . . . nearly. Haldir helped him take down the banner and hang up a new one before we were able to talk. 

"So what is it, Kelsey?" The pastor asked, "You don't usually come on Saturdays without telling me, so it must be something important." His eyes twinkled, "I hope you don't want me to marry you to this fellow, though he seems pretty nice. Your parents wouldn't approve, even if you are old enough." 

Haldir turned pink and the joke and I had to pat his arm, "No!" He spluttered, "We want help talking to Eru!" 

"Eru?" Pastor Robbins asked confused. 

"Haldir comes from a . . . community church." I said brightly, "They preach oddly, he means we've come to pray and would like to put a prayer request in the bulletin." 

Pastor Robbins pulled out a piece of paper, "What would you like us to pray for, Kelsey?" 

I thought of how best to word our prayer, "Please pray for guidance in these times for those in leadership positions and the guardians of our safety, as well as for answers to our most pressing questions." 

Pastor Robbins scribbled my prayer down, "It'll be in there. Would you like to come to our service tomorrow, Mr. -?" 

"Haldir." Haldir said shortly, "And . . . yes . . . yes I would." 

**Mandy's PoV**

"I'm bored." I told Legolas tiredly. We had played all of Nickel's board games - Kelsey had taught the elves how to play chess and scrabble in Minas Tirith ages ago. 

"I know." Legolas said, just as tiredly, "Write something." 

"There's no paper." 

"Then write it in your head." 

I tried. I told myself a story about an ordinary girl who fell in love with an extraordinary guy. He was a prince, and he hated her guts until she rescued him from an evil mannequin. This story sounded oddly familiar. 

"I'm bored." I said. 

**Author's Note:**

In the next chapter, we will meet the mysterious Penelope who Glorfindel seems to dread. I don't remember much else b/c I'm ten chapters ahead of this . . . I HAVE ENCORPERATED THE LITTLE GREEN WORMS! WHOOT! You won't understand that until chapter 16 . . . poor guy . . . 


	8. Penelope

**Reveiws: **

**nightstarz:** You have no idea how right you are. Wait a couple chapters and you'll see. Pastor Robbins isn't quite that important. Yet. Knowing the way these characters are going, who knows. He could turn out to be Eru in disguise. I seriously hope not, though.

**Queen islanzadi:** poor you! I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, I was inspired and therefore typing instead of updating. So sorry. but now all is better.

**RtFR:** You're name is just to long and I have two seconds since my mother is yelling at me, so I abbreviate!

**gina:**voila!

**Mandi:**It takes so long to update that I just stick them up there. call me!

**Chapter 8**

Penelope

**Nickel's PoV**

The doorbell rang. Glorfindel hid as I bounded over to the door, opened it, and gave the insane person outside a hug. Under normal circumstances, she would have had plain, straightish brown hair just past her shoulder blades, gray eyes, and a thin, but athletic build. She would probably have been wearing jeans and a T-shirt printed with something along the lines of "Don't call my friend imaginary! He's just visibly challenged!"

Today, she had curled her hair and added extensions so it was longer than her height (about 5' 6") and piled on top of her head except for a few long strands. She wore colored contacts so her eyes were different colors - one bright blue, one black - and giant magnifying glass spectacles. She wore a tie dress with a hat that threatened to topple off her head, and her car could be seen in the street, a purple Bug with yellow daisies on it.

Glorfindel had always been scared stiff of Penelope. I could never see why.

"How's Glorfindel?" She asked, smiling and revealing a pair of plastic orange fangs like those you get at Halloween, "Just a minute." She took out the teeth and delicately spat outside, before closing the door behind her.

"Well enough." I replied.

Penelope Dipole was the only person who I could talk to about Glorfindel - she understood about imaginary husbands - she had three, all of them deceased now. She had graduated last year, but went to an online college, so I saw her often - and threatened Glorfindel with her if he wouldn't behave. I had met her just after returning from Arda, when she had found me talking to Glorfindel. She could see him, though she still didn't think he existed. Mandy and Kelsey had met her twice - at my birthday parties, and afterward tried to pretend she hadn't been there. I always got the feeling she scared them as well. But Penelope liked almost everyone. Almost being the operative word.

"I need some help." I told her.

"I came as soon as I could." She said gleefully, beginning to disassemble her costume to something normal enough that Glorfindel would come out.

"Leave it on." I told her, "There's someone I would like you to meet."

Penelope followed me to the room over the garage - thankfully, my mother didn't see her (they would talk for hours about cacti) - and inside, we found Mandy and Legolas asleep.

"Is that . . ." She didn't finish her sentence as she had woken Legolas up.

He looked around sleepily, saw the strange, bug eyed person with hair pile three feet high on the top of her head and screamed. Frankly, I was disappointed.

Penelope toppled over a cushion and fell on top of Ernie, her hat flying off her head and onto a sleeping Mandy who didn't wake up. She stared back at Legolas for a few moments, and then started screaming as well, if only because he was screaming. The noise woke Ernie up, and he started screaming and throwing things around the room. It was complete chaos for a while, to my utter enjoyment, until Glorfindel came in.

"What on - oof!" Glorfindel was knocked against the wall.

I was quite willing to let Legolas get beat up, and I knew Penelope could fend for herself, but Glorfindel was my responsibility. "STOP!" I yelled, and everyone froze midwhatever, "Thank you, now sit down, we have to wait for our communications team." Everyone sat down except for Glorfindel, who was holding an ice pack I had given him to his head and looking rather dazed.

We waited about five minutes until a car pulled into the driveway and Kelsey and Haldir hurried up the stairs.

"What happened here?" Kelsey asked, "Who's that?" She pointed to Penelope, "Oh, wait, your Nickel's friend from, where was it?"

I shrugged, "We didn't really meet anywhere, Kelsey - we just met."

"Oh."

Haldir stared at the destruction in awe, "Did Mandy sleep through all this?"

I frowned, "Yes, she did. Shake her, Penelope."

Penelope shook Mandy. Mandy woke up. I was a very good thing Penelope had taken her glasses and colored contacts out. Mandy didn't scream. Barely. I just love Penelope.

"Wassup?" Mandy slurred sleepily.

"It is six in the evening." I told her, "You are sitting next to my friend Penelope, and we are going to have a conference now."

"Is she trustworthy?" Legolas asked, still suspicious of Penelope even after she'd taken off the glasses and contacts.

"Quite." I said sternly, "Penelope has known Glorfindel for two years."

"How come she got to talk to him?" Kelsey asked angrily.

"Because she understands me." Glorfindel said simply and that settled the matter.

"Anyways" I continued, "Penelope is going to help us send the elves back."

"How?" Haldir asked.

"I don't want to." Legolas grumbled.

Glorfindel glared at him, "Are you sure you aren't related to Fëanor? You certainly act like him."

_That_ shut him up.

Penelope cleared her throat delicately, "I will have to transcend your vibes and teach you how to open you way from within." Her voice had gone kind of dreamy, like when she taught Glorfindel how to move back and forth, "My sleepy friend first."

Legolas grumbled a bit, and then gasped, "That _hurt_!"

Penelope smiled slowly at him and I was glad she had taken out the fake teeth, "That is because you are not listening with your mind."

Glorfindel smiled wickedly. Haldir looked a bit nervous. We all waited.

Legolas disappeared with a slight sucking noise, and was back again, "Ow."

"Think about where you are going." Penelope said sternly.

"Where did you land?" I asked.

"On top of a campfire." Legolas mumbled sulkily, and sat gingerly next to Mandy. I sniggered.

Haldir looked rather nervous, but he got the hang of the returning to Arda thing faster that Legolas. I think it was the fact that he was used to people messing with his head - he _had _worked for Galadriel.

"How exactly does that work, anyways?" I asked Penelope outside of the room.

"They can get back because they belong there." She said simply, "And they can come here - though I did not teach them that - because something is here that they have bound themselves to."

I thought about that, "Mandy and Kelsey."

"I suppose. Goodnight, Nickel."

"Bye, Penelope!" I waved as she walked to her car and went back inside. Now there was the dilemma of _keeping_ the elves in Arda.

**Penelope's PoV:**

I started my car, glanced around for any sign of the Tapioca people, and gunned it out of Nickel's neighborhood.

"Nice car."

"Thanks . . . whoa!" I hit the brakes, sending the incredibly tall, pale creepy guy in my backseat flying toward the windshield. He stopped himself from moving just before his skulk cracked the glass.

"Why does everyone overreact here?" He grumbled.

"Who are you?" I asked, deciding to get the preliminaries over with.

"Sauron."

"Nice to meet you, Sauron." I held out my hand.

He shook it, then, still holding tightly, stared into my eyes, "You have no idea who I am, do you?"

"Not really, no. Are you imaginary or not?"

"Does it make a difference?"

"I need to know if I can talk to you in front of other people."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled viciously.

"Can I have my hand back?"

"Of course." He let go and vaulted into the front seat, "Could I have a ride to the corner store? I need some gum."

"Sure." I accelerated more gently than before, in case any other random imaginary people showed up, "So who are you? Other than your name of course. I've never known any imaginary person so little."

"I am Sauron!" He said, voice deepening to a threatening tone.

I turned the radio on to the most offensive music I could find - The Marriage of Figaro (I love Mozart) - and glared at him, "I heard you the first time."

He reeled back a bit, "Get out of my head!"

"No!" I squinted at the sun, "Who in Hades are you? Or how about what - you can answer that with something other than your name, right?"

"I'm a disposed evil overlord."

"Thank you for being honest with me, Sauron, there's some gum in the center consol if you want it."

Sauron rummaged around and produced the cinnamon gum I kept for emergencies (such as this). "I should have found someone more submissive." He muttered.

"You won't find anyone more malicious though." I told him gleefully, "So where do you need to take over?"

He sighed, "I'm not even the overlord anymore- I was a sidekick until my master got kicked out, then I took over - but so little midget managed to defeat me."

"So why are you here?"

"This is apparently the void - though it's rather full for an abyss."

"Ah."

"So, my former master decided I could help him take over this world."

"Oh . . . well that sucks."

"Not being in charge - yeah. I'd plan on thwarting him, except Morgoth knows this place better than - what is it?"

"You're . . . you're . . ." I was chattering, "You're that guy with the ring!" I stared at him, "Oh, God, Nickel is going to kill me. Nickel? Hah, _Glorfindel's_ going to kill me. And he doesn't even really exsist."

**Author's Note: **

So Penelope, the scheming, sneaky character that attacked and took my story hostage has arrived. Ta Da. Great Job of character creation, Remember to Feel Real!


	9. A Psychotic Nutcase or Two

**Reveiws: **

**nightstarz:** Yes, it is spelled right. And yes she does, oh yes she does. You have no idea. That character stole my story! Grr!

**Queen Islanzadi: **Of course Penelope is awsome. And why does life suck? Life is wonderful!

**Gina: **maybe, Idk you can measure it if you like, but they're all pretty short. I'm at chapter 21 b/c of that so maybe this one will be as long as FotF. I hope so. And of course you know her, she's my most . . . dynamic characters. If anything blows up at school, it's b/c she's a real person and I havn't met her yet. That would make me feel better about Glorfindel's perpetual intangibility.

**Remember to Feel Real: **I blame Penelope. She is the most alive character in existance. she Stole my story. it's freakin AWESOME!

**Meagan:** Why wouldn't she like you? Oh! it's just people in general that get on her nerves . . . like Morgoth does. Feanor is the biggest idiot in the whole history of idiots. It's a long story that you don't have the patience to hear, so I'll leave it at that. Well, they are out there. And what do you mean "more dangerous"? In some ways, i supoose, but it's like comparing an Elephant to a bee - we're so different in that respect. He's just an elf.

**Chapter 9**

A Psychotic Nutcase or Two

**Mandy's PoV:**

I snuggled closer to Legolas as Haldir and Kelsey reported on their mission. Glorfindel sat on the basket chair with Nickel on his lap - asleep. She looked really weird, with legs all over the place. At first, we were going to wake her, but Glorfindel told us to let her sleep. Nobody came within two feet of Glorfindel when he was protecting Nickel from exhaustion.

"So Haldir's coming to church with me tomorrow." Kelsey finished, smiling up at Haldir. Her gaze fell on the clock, "Oh, Mandy! You have to get home."

"Why" I asked, and then saw the time, "Ack! See you tomorrow, Legolas, Haldir, Glorfindel. Bye Kelsey!" I rushed out the door and down the stairs to my car. The top was up - Kelsey no doubt had put it back up since she had come back. I slipped in the door and started the car, setting it in reverse.

I was just pulling into my driveway when I noticed I had company.

"Oh my God! Ernie - what are you doing in here?"

"I thought you could give me a ride."

I groaned, "Couldn't you have asked a while ago?"

"No - Nickel wouldn't let me leave."

I glared at him suspiciously, "I wonder why. Well you can walk."

"Aww, Mandy."

"Get out of my car, Ernie."

Grumbling, Ernie climbed out of the car, "Can I use your phone then?"

"Sure." I sighed and handed it to him, "Make it quick."

He flashed me a smile, "I will." He dialed a number, "Hey, come and get me . . . Mandy's of course . . . What's your address, Mandy?"

"5960 Harcourt Lane."

". . . What? . . . Oh, okay . . . I'll meet you there. Bye." He hung up, "Thanks, Mandy."

"Whatever - I just hope I don't get in trouble with Nickel for this."

"Why were you guys keeping me hostage anyways?"

"We weren't keeping you hostage - We were . . . I have no idea what we were doing. Ask Nickel."

"Oh I will." He set off down my street - towards the park I think.

I sighed and pulled into the garage.

**Kelsey's PoV**

"I'm not going to kill her, Glorfindel!" I argued, "She has to wake up - we're staying in the house tonight - I don't want to hear Legolas dreaming again."

"Hey!" Legolas looked up from his angsty position in a corner, "Don't you mean Mandy?"

"Don't insult your girlfriend." Haldir advised sagely, "It's always your fault."

"Sure, Haldir."

"Please, Glorfindel?" I begged, "And," I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "I really don't want to sleep with all these guys in the same room."

"We heard that!" Haldir said loudly, "Not that I mind, but Kelsey - we shouldn't split up - what if . . . where's Morgoth?"

"What?" I looked around the room, "When did he leave?"

"He was here before - when the weird girl was here."

"Maybe she snuck him out." Legolas proposed suspiciously.

"Wake Nickel up, Glorfindel." I ordered.

He glared at me, "No."

I rolled my eyes, "Why not?"

"She needs to sleep."

"And Glorfindel's on Morgoth's side - he drugged Nickel." Legolas added.

"I swear you must be related to Fëanor." Glorfindel muttered, turning Legolas's ears pink, "He was always suspecting people of maliciousness."

"You didn't like Fëanor much did you?" I asked.

"_Nobody_ liked Fëanor much." Haldir pointed out, "He was an idiot."

Nickel rolled over on Glorfindel's lap and muttered something.

"She's having a bad time." Glorfindel said angrily, "Worrying constantly about you guys, and Morgoth, and Penelope's imaginary lesbian roommate. She hasn't been sleeping."

"Sorry, Glorfindel." I said, "But Nickel's going to have to catch up on sleep _after_ this is sorted out." I waited, "Okay, I really don't want to do this."

"Do what?"

"This." I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I could do this anywhere and not just Arda. In a moment, Nickel floated over to the couch behind me.

Glorfindel sprang up after her, but Haldir was faster, and shook Nickel awake.

"What?" She asked, sitting bolt upright in comic contrast to Mandy waking up.

"Ernie's gone." I told her, "Is he supposed to be?"

She looked around, blinking slowly, "No, he . . . oh no."

"What is it?" Glorfindel asked.

"Glorfindel, go find Penelope and - actually, don't leave my sight - I don't want you dying again." Glorfindel grimaced, "We have a problem." Nickel groaned, "But we can't do anything about it till morning."

"Why not?" Legolas asked.

"I'm freak'n tired, that's why."

Glorfindel smirked, "Come on, dear, let's get ready for bed." He scooped Nickel up.

"Wait a minute!" I called, "What are you doing with her?"

Nickel rolled her eyes, "Grow up, Kelsey."

Glorfindel carried her out of the room, ignoring my faint protests.

"It's alright, Kelsey." Haldir patted my shoulder kind of awkwardly, "They're married, remember - and Nickel isn't stupid."

"I wish that was the case."

He chuckled, "Are you staying out here or going in there?"

"What a stupid question, I'll come get you for church in the morning, Haldir." And I left the room, feeling more than seeing Legolas's humor at my expense.

**Morgoth's PoV**

I waited. Sauron was taking far too long. The shadows from the dim, distant streetlights didn't move, didn't tell the time. It was empty here, compared to the daylight life and rush of this world, although nowhere could manage the emptiness of the void - nowhere but nowhere itself. I considered stealing a car, but I had time. The elves were too afraid to follow me and Nickel wouldn't dare on her own. Even if she would, Glorfindel wouldn't let her. I clenched my teeth. That stupid elf was a thorn in my side - he just didn't stay dead. The idiot must have blackmailed Mandos to get out so often and easily. Mandy and Kelsey wouldn't follow me either - they didn't remember my rule as well as Nickel did, perhaps because they didn't want to. And they still thought I had some vestiges of humanity. Ha, I had never been so weak as to be the least bit human.

A car drove by, filled with drunken party goers and loud music. The night grew silent. A VW Bug drove up and parked on the curb. I squinted in the dark.

"Morgoth, I'm here!" Sauron waved enthusiastically from the sidewalk, "Come on!" I sighed and joined him. In the driver's seat sat Nickel's psychic friend. Just my luck - Sauron got a psychotic nutcase that would rat on me for a chauffer.

"Is she safe?" I asked Sauron.

"A bit psychotic, but otherwise, yes. And she has insider information."

I got in the back seat as Sauron took shotgun. The girl was muttering something as she drove away.

"Hmm?" Sauron leaned closer to her, "Don't worry, I'll protect you, Penelope."

The thought of Sauron protecting anyone was enough to bring tears of laughter to my eyes. Taking over the world would be more fun this time around. No creepy spiders either.

**Author's Note:**

i almost reposted chapter 8 . . . that would have been bad. I thought there was something wrong with that chapter. :) anyways . . .

Just reveiw!

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	10. Something Really, Really Bad

**Reviews:**

I'm sorry this took so long (only 19 days, but in this world, that's forever) At least it wasn't a cliff hanger. I remeber this chapter now . . . this would be when I (the author) attempted to kill people and failed miserably.

**Queen Islanzadi:** That's what they all say. But this should lighten your mood signifigantly!

**4th Triforce Peice:** Yes, that is a very good point. In the others we provided those names, but didn't expect any new reveiwers (which is great) so the other three prequels weren't mentioned. They are now, hoverer mentioned, or rather it is mentioned that this is part of a series.

**nightstarz:**he's so sweet like that.

**Remember to Feel Real:** espesially considering that Penelope can take care of herself.

**Gina:** maybe I should stop giving you preveiws . . .

**Jasper's Little Psychic:** Thank you! I'm glad somehow has noticed how perceptivly our style changes considering this was written over a two year time period.

**Chapter 10**

Something really, really bad

**Nickel's PoV**

I stretched luxuriously, brushing my fingers against . . . nothing. I groped around my bed: pillow, pillow, pillow, bunched up blanket, sheet, sock, sweater . . . I sat bolt upright, eyes popping open.

"Glorfindel?" I asked, "Glorfindel, this isn't funny, come out right now." I stared angrily at my room, "Glorfindel?" My voice got smaller. After years of waking up, turning around and coming out of the shower to find Glorfindel bouncing about complaining about my distractions from him (homework, school, friends . . . ), it was really unnerving to find him gone. Unless . . .

"KELSEY!" I screamed.

A crash resounded from the guest room and my bedroom door opened slowly.

"Are you decent, Nickel?"

"Glorfindel is gone!" I shouted, "He disappeared!"

"Uh, Nickel, doesn't he have to go back to Arda occasionally and so on?"

"Glorfindel would never leave me in a crisis, he leaves notes and flowers and . . ." I was in hysterics.

"Calm down, Nickel, he'll be back." Kelsey sat on the bed.

"You think so?" I asked in small voice.

"I'm sure of it. Now I have to go get dressed - Haldir and I are going to church this morning. Will you be okay with Legolas?"

I lay back on my pillow - one of them, "You're leaving me with the elf that would love to see me dead?"

"Glorfindel will come back and keep him contained."

"If you say so." I sighed, "I want Glorfindel now."

"We don't always get what we want, Nickel."

"Shut up, Kelsey."

**Sauron's Pov**

Penelope and I had to sleep in the front seats of the car, while Morgoth got the whole backseat. It really wasn't fair - he wouldn't even let us put the seats back. I woke up tired and with close to thirty cricks in my back and neck. Penelope was scrunched in the driver's seat with her head on the steering wheel and her legs up on the back seat - she didn't look very comfortable.

"Good morning, Sauron!" She waved cheerily, seeing I was awake, "I got us some donuts."

I glanced in the back seat, "Morgoth will want first pick . . ."

"That's why I only got one kind." She said practically, "or we could wake him up."

"That would be a bad idea." I told her blandly, taking a donut out of the bag, "Morgoth does not appreciate disturbances."

"Well if he's going to sleep late, he'll never get anything done."

"Don't ask me how he managed to take over the world - I was just a sidekick."

"Sidekick . . . that sounds like you've been kicked aside."

I laughed bitterly, "You bet. You know how I'm remembered? - as only slightly less evil than him and only because I let him rule me. Hah. Yeah right. We were supposed to work together on the whole ruling the world thing, but Morgoth just doesn't know how to share."

"Maybe we should disturb that self confidence." Penelope mused, and before I could stop her, she leaned the back of her head against the horn.

**BBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!!**

"ALL RIGHT, WHO WAS THAT? WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU . . ."

Penelope smiled at me and flipped around to a more normal position, cracked her knuckles, and revved the engine. She was really amazing.

We drove out of the strip mall parking lot and down the freeway, windows open, music - and Morgoth - blaring. For some reason, I was quite sure I was in heaven - where ever that was.

"Would you shut up for a moment and tell me what you want to do next?" Penelope asked Morgoth, "I don't have the mind of an evil overlord, and though I am psychic, I'm not interested in getting to know you _that_ well. Spill."

Morgoth spluttered a bit, "Dollar theatre - I'm meeting someone there."

"Sure sure." Penelope muttered, "I'm not paying for your ticket, evil kenevil - you can do your own fundraising."

Morgoth's annoyance radiated from the backseat.

"I think someone needs an attitude adjustment." Penelope commented dryly as we entered the parking lot of the dollar theatre - home of underhanded deals and malicious extravagance.

Morgoth and I stepped out of the car. "Stay here." Morgoth ordered, "We'll be back in an hour."

"Why can't I come see _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ with you?"

"We aren't watching a movie!" Morgoth practically shouted.

"Sure sure." Penelope muttered again, "Like I'm going to believe _that_."

"Come on, Sauron." Morgoth pulled me with him to the ticket booth and bought two tickets to _Rocky Horror Picture Show_. I could feel Penelope watching us - with binoculars no doubt.

Inside, we took seats in the very front - everyone expects sneaky people to sit in the back, but the front has the worst view - nobody will sit there therefore, no one will hear you. Someone was sitting in the bottom row. Three someones as a matter of fact . . ."

**Legolas's PoV**

I prodded Haldir with the end of a wooden spoon.

"What, Legolas?"

"I'm bored. Can I go see Amanda?"

"Shut up and sit still, Legolas."

"That's all people ever tell me." I pitched my voice higher, "Shut up and look pretty, Legolas; shut up and go kiss Mandy, Legolas; Shut-"

"Okay, okay, just shut up!" Kelsey yelled downstairs, "Nickel is having a crisis."

"What's wrong with her?" I perked up, "Did she accidentally murder Glorfindel?"

"Don't get you hopes up." Haldir advised, "She wouldn't let him stay dead."

"We have a problem." Kelsey came into the kitchen, seizing my wooden spoon, "Glorfindel has disappeared and Nickel wants to go find him. She's getting dressed now."

"So what are we doing?" Haldir asked, clearly worried - March wardens, ugh.

"We are sticking with the plan. Mandy is going to pick us up, take Legolas to church with her, and drop us two off at my church. Nicole has agreed to make him" she jabbed the spoon at me, "invisible."

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted, "Nickel is not going to make me invisible. She'll contrive to lose me."

Kelsey somehow glared down at me over the tip of her tiny nose despite the fact that she was a good six inches shorter than me, "All of us from Arda will be able to see you. The point is to make sure you aren't strangled by Amanda's siblings."

I raised an eyebrow.

Kelsey raised an eyebrow.

Haldir tied his forehead in knots trying to raise an eyebrow.

"Fine." I conceded, "But this had better not end up with me estranged from the rest of you."

"You'll be fine, Legolas." Kelsey patted the top of my head patronizingly, "There she is!"

Nicole looked fairly normal for once, well, not really. She was dressed all in black and wore a ridiculous looking veil over her hair.  
"Who died?" Haldir asked.

Nickel glared at him, "You if you don't show proper respect to those in mourning." She heaved a dry sob that I suspected was entirely fake. She waved her hand dismissively at me and wailed, "Go be happy with Mandy while you can! Get married, have fifty kids. I don't care. It'll all be over soon anyways what with Melkor loose again." Maybe those sobs weren't fake.

"Just breathe, Nickel." Kelsey held Nickel's shoulders, "Breathe in . . . and out . . . very good, and in . . . and out."

BRING!!

"Why is that box yelling at us?" Haldir asked blithely.

"Pick it up." I suggested, "Maybe it's a phone."

"Hello?" Haldir asked the box.

**Author's Note:**

Don't ask me how Sauron knows about dollar theatres - or where Glorfindel went . . . you will see . . . Acctually, since this chapter is/was kind of short, I think I'll scrap the next one to make it longer. . . Tada!


	11. Guess Who's Back!

**Reveiws:**

**Queen Islanzadi:** I hope you enjoy this one then - as always, of course

**TheHouseoftheGoldenFlower:** New reveiwer! yeah! Nice name. That would be Glofindel's Family.

**gina:** you know me

**nightstarz:** I tend to switch to lesser character's PoVs when I run out of ideas, or when there's no one handy to steal the mind of.

**Chapter 11**

Guess who's back!

**Gina's PoV**

_(That's right, Gina. If you don't know who she is, you probably didn't do well in ninth grade English. We've mentioned her a grand total of two times. (Not counting review thanks)) _

I stared at the phone. It stayed despairingly silent. I glared at the phone. No change.

_This sucks_

I gave up on psychically forcing the phone to ring and picked it up. If he wasn't going to call, I may as well mope. I dialed Nickel's number, thinking despairingly that she was probably out at a movie or something with Kelsey.

The phone rang, waiting for Nickel's answering machine.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar male voice answered the phone cautiously as if it might explode.

"Is Nicole there?" I asked, mood spiraling downward.

"Yes . . ."

I waited. "Can I speak with her?"

"Just a moment."

I listened carefully for sounds on the other side of the line. Who was this guy?

"Kelsey! What am I supposed to do?"

"Now calm down, sweetie . . ."

"Hello?" Nickel answered the phone.

"Hi." I didn't know what to say now. I had been so sure she wouldn't answer . . . "Who was that?"

" . . . Er . . . Just a friend of Kelsey's. So what's up?"

"He didn't call." I moaned into the phone.

There was silence on the other side.

"Nickel?"

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who didn't call?"

"Nickel! How could you forget? Remember - my prom date - he said he'd call. But it's been a mo-"

"Sorry, Gina." She stopped my rant, "I've been busy lately and forgot . . . everything . . . Really."

"Can I come over?" I asked.

"Erm . . ."

"Are you guys leaving?"

"No . . . You can come over. Kelsey and her friend are going to church actually. Come on over. I need someone so I don't commit suicide."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just get over here as soon as you can."

"Okay, Bye. See you soon." I shrugged on a jacket and grabbed the keys off the counter. Nickel sure was acting strange. Not that it was unusual for _her_ to act strange.

**Taylor's PoV**

_He's not new either - remember the guy who appeared in Moria and thought he was in a rock gym? With his girlfriend, Katie? Yeah, that's the guy. _

"Hi, Ernie!" I waved.

The skinny guy next to Ernie scowled at us in the darkness of the movie theatre.

"Shh, Taylor, hello to you too." Ernie sat down next to Tomato.

"So what did you need to talk about?" I asked.

"Well, it's about this girl . . ."

"Who?" Scott asked.

"It doesn't matter; the fact is she's making my life miserable."

"What do you want us to do?" I asked.

"I need you to help me with phase one of the resistance."

"Speak and we shall follow." Tomato announced in a monotone.

"Do any of you remember a place called Middle Earth?"

I thought really hard. "Nope."

"You were somewhere normal one moment, and the next, you thought you were in a dream - somewhere else entirely"

"That happens all the time." Scott complained, "Whenever I fall asleep in school."

"Oh my freakin-"

"Tomato."

"Sorry, that was when that freaky short guy kept following me around! He was so darned annoying. Scott and Taylor were there too - Scott for longer than I was, though I think Amanda pushed him and Allie off a cliff in that dark, creepy tunnel."

"Very good!" Ernie exclaimed, "Sauron, go get us some popcorn."

The skinny guy got up, mumbling the whole time.

"Oh, yeah." Scott moaned, "It was boring as all get out. So what?"

"We are going to revamp Middle Earth so it is cooler, fierier and way more evil."

"Awesome!" Tomato intoned.

"Nice . . . I guess." Scott grumbled.

"I'm still confused . . ." I tried to get a word in.

"Come on, we're going to take over the world!" Ernie led us out of the theatre and I still had no idea what he was talking about, "I'll have to get more recruits though . . ."

**Kelsey's PoV**

In a matter of minutes after leaving Nickel on the phone, Haldir, Legolas and I were cruising along with Mandy. She dropped Haldir and me off at my church and went on her way with a signifigantly more cheerful Legolas. Pastor Robbins was already preaching in his podium when we slipped in to a pew near the back. Haldir stared over my shoulder at the hymnal, in an obvious state of confusion.

"What's that for?" He whispered.

"It's all the songs for the people who don't know all the words."

"Don't you know all the words?"

"Some of these are really obscure songs, Haldir."

"Oh."

We listened to the service.

"Kelsey?"

"Yes, Haldir?"

"When we save Arda and this world from Morgoth, will you marry me? I didn't get to ask last time, so I though now would be good. The Pastor guy said something about marriages here yesterday, so I thought-"

I placed a finger over Haldir's lips, "Of course I will, Haldir. Did you even have to ask?"

He took my hand and kissed the palm lightly, "It's nicer to ask."

**Sauron's PoV**

"Help with the resistance . . . hah! They'll be slaves just as much as I am." I muttered all the way to the concession stand only to realize that I had no money. Morgoth knew that as well as I did. "So he doesn't trust me anymore." I stalked out of the cinema to Penelope's car. We would go our own way and take over the world however we wanted. With Penelope on my side I'd probably beat Morgoth to it. He only had a triad of high school graduate _boys_ to help him.

Penelope wasn't in her car. I glanced around the parking lot, and went back into the theatre. Maybe she had followed us . . .

"You're working for _who_!?" I heard from behind a pillar. The back of a golden head protruded from the top of a wilting fern. A very familiar golden head for that matter . . .

"Hello Glorfindel." I said in my scariest voice (I can be pretty scary.)

I could hear the meep he issued before he tried to run away.  
I caught Glorfindel by his hair (he has a weakness for that stuff), "I just want to talk, Elf boy."

"Are you sure you don't have me confused with Legolas?"

My eyes narrowed, "Don't try to distract me, Glorfindel. Now tell me what you are doing."

"Trying to avoid being killed?" Glorfindel offered hopelessly.

"You're coming with Penelope and I . . . me . . . whatever." I dragged Glorfindel behind me to Penelope's car and shoved him in the back seat. She scrambled to the driver's seat and revved the engine.

"Nickel's?" She asked, having read my mind.

"We need to settle the matter of our allegiance, you and me." I told her, "Morgoth cannot be trusted.

Glorfindel scoffed, "You think?"

"Shut up, Glorfindel." Penelope ordered sharply, I don't want anything to happen to you - Nickel will actually kill me."

"Like I said, I'll protect you." I told her.

Glorfindel just laughed and laughed and laughed.

**Author's Note**

This was one of my favorite chapter's to write, except for the fact that Pen and Sauron didn't do what they were suppoed to to, ensuring that they remain in this story while a major plot point got put off. No one ever wants to do Morgoth's dirty work - even by accident.


	12. The Ultimate Evil

**Reveiws: **

**Queen Islanzadi: **Sorry it's been so long. I've been on and off line, but haven't had my files with me to acctually update, I hope you forgive me!

**nightstarz: **Sauron is one of those character that doesn't do what he's told. like killing other characters par exaple, he's surprisingly pacifistic.

**gina: **sure, Gina. . .

**anonymous authoress:** run that by me again . . . I'm a little slow today.

**meagan:** we are married, he's overly protective, kelsey was working with what she had, it doesn't matter who he is, yes, suicide is bad, it's easier to keep relationships intact, yes, they are, the band army is like clones, Sauron is a complex character (see above)

**Pellinorfan11:** new reveiwer! yay! I hope you havn't been waiting too long. . . only three days, it's better than three months!

**Author's note:** It's seems I got a little sentimental writing this chapter . . . I don't usually treat legolas as a person with feelings. . .

**Chapter 12**

The Ultimate Evil

**Legolas's PoV**

I waited patiently next to Mandy on the hard bench in the giant room. This was a kind of cult meeting I could only suppose. Most of the people in the church were standing a singing something - I hummed along a bit. This place was very pretty - and apparently quite important to Mandy - and Kelsey and Haldir for that matter. Supposedly, one could contact Illuvatar here. I wondered how they did it.

Mandy turned and smiled dazzlingly at me. I smiled back, but noticed out of the corner of my eye that a boy across the aisle was also smiling. What a strange world this was, where one couldn't be in love with just one person, but with many - and all at the same time! It was absolutely insane.

The man at the front said something - a benediction of sorts, bidding us go forth and do God's bidding - and the crowd filed out in a disorderly mass of laughing children and parents and young people watching each other across the crowd. Mandy put her arms around my shoulder and hugged me before running off to greet some people I didn't know - people she couldn't introduce me to because I was invisible. I wondered if that was how Glorfindel felt all of the time when he was with Nickel - did he feel like he was left behind at every word; that he would never fully belong in Nickel's world? I almost felt sorry for the guy.

"Come on, Leggy!" Mandy pulled me away from the crowds, returning to my side and helping me escape this strange reality, "Are you okay?" She asked, catching sight of my no doubt dazed expression.

I shook my head, "Yes, I'm fine."

Mandy watched me carefully, "No you aren't . . . I know!" She brightened considerably and hauled me across the lobby to a row of tables with giant metal kegs of some dark liquid and plates of colorful, round pastries. "You need coffee!" Mandy concluded triumphantly pouring me a cup of the strange drink. She poured little packets of white stuff into the drink, and some milk out of a pitcher before handing it over, "Enjoy, Legolas!"

**Nickel's PoV**

I paced back and forth in the kitchen, wringing my hands - well, trying to figure out _how_ to wring my hands. I couldn't think of where Glorfindel would be unless - but Glorfindel wasn't stupid. He would never . . .

"Oh merde!" I shrieked, "Where in . . . whatever . . . is he! Argh!" I curled in on myself dramatically.

**Ding Dong**

I glared at the entry hall, Gina couldn't be here yet.

**Ding Dong**

Was it the Jehovah witnesses? I counted on my fingers - it couldn't be: they came last week.

**Ding Dong**

Maybe it was the mailman . . . oh, wait, it was a Sunday.

**Ding Dong**

The neighbors didn't cook, so they couldn't be asking for a cup of sugar.

**Ding Dong**

I growled angrily in the general direction of the doorbell mechanism and snuck past the door to get to the stairs and dismantle it.

**Ding Dong** **Ding Dong** **Ding Dong** **Ding Dong** **Ding Dong**

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" I dove for the door, and unbolted it, "What do you want, you little fiend!" I stared at the stomach of someone incredibly tall.

"Maybe not a _little_ fiend." Glorfindel offered from next to my creepy visitor.

"Sauron is not a fiend, Glorfindel!" Penelope complained from the other side of the neither little, nor fiendish person, "Hello, Nickel! I thick we found something you've misplaced."

"Thanks." I managed to breathe out, "Come on in, Penelope - try not the break the ceiling, Sauron - my mother wouldn't like it."

Sauron sat down on the floor in the kitchen, while Penelope took the stool and Glorfindel put a much distance between himself and Sauron as was elvenly possible while still remaining in the room.

"Would you like something to drink?" I asked.

"Coke." Sauron growled out. It was the first time I'd heard his voice. I balked a bit. He sounded rather nasal - like he had a cold or something.

"Milk and maple syrup." Penelope added.

"Lemon, or no lemon?" I asked her, fetching a coke from the laundry room.

"Sans. I'm on a diet." Penelope hopped down and helped me by getting out some glasses.

"Can we get to the point?" Sauron asked in his nasally voice.

"Speak, I'm listening." I poured myself a glass of orange juice.

"Glorfindel" Sauron took this opportunity to glare at said elf, "was threatening Penelope."

"She was working for Morgoth!" Glorfindel protested.

I ignored Glorfindel in favor of a more pressing question, "Are you trying to protect Penelope?"

Sauron seemed to shrink a bit.

"Penelope?"

"Don't ask me, he just hijacked my car."

I rolled my eyes, "I know that."

"You do?" Sauron, and Glorfindel asked in unison. They both grimaced at having said the same thing.

"Well, of course I do." I shook my head despairingly, "Just like I knew that Morgoth was in Mandy's car."

"What?"

"He was?"

"How do you know that?"

I waved my hand, "Let's just pretend I don't have any idea why you're here, Sauron - please explain."

"Erm . . ."

"Penelope?"

"We decided to ditch Morgoth." She said brightly, "He wouldn't let me watch the movie with them.

"Ahh." I nodded sagely, "Glorfindel?"

"Yes?"

"Go upstairs and get me a coat - it's cold in here."

Glorfindel muttered something, but went upstairs anyways.

"What do you know?" I asked Sauron.

"He was meeting with these three guys - your age about - I'm not sure how he got them to understand what he wants, but they'll help him.

"Do you know their names?"

"Taylor . . . Scott and . . . Tomato."

"Drat." I leaned against the fridge. "This is going to be difficult."

"They're just humans-"

"But that's why it's so difficult - Kelsey and Mandy won't harm them - we can't take affirmative action."

"Hmm."

"What if they aren't evil?" Penelope asked, "He could have just brainwashed them. You just need to uproot the evil at its source."

"Once more, they don't believe he's evil here. Mandy and Kelsey just think we have to keep him in this world forever and he'll be good and normal."

"Hah!" Sauron laughed, "Believe me, the only way to stop him is to get rid of him entirely - or make him happy."

"He's like Hitler, though." Penelope interjected, "He's never happy with what you give him."

"Drat."

"I got your sweater." Glorfindel barged into the room.

"Thank you, Pastrami."

Sauron glanced from me to Glorfindel and back to me again.

"We're married, Sauron." I assured him, letting Glorfindel happily pick me up and carry me off, "You're welcome to anything in the fridge."

"Thanks!" Penelope waved, completely used to this kind of behavior on our part, and helping herself to a slice of the chocolate pie that still resided in the freezer.

Penelope's PoV

I was enjoying the most amazing of all chocolate pies on the planet, Sauron scowling angrily up the stairs.

"What crazy thing outside of hell are they doing?" He asked sourly.

"Have some pie." I recommended.

"Please spare me."

"Have you ever had Nickel's chocolate pie?"

"No."

"You poor soul."

Sauron stared at me like I was insane.

Ding Dong

I glanced up, "That, is a doorbell."

Sauron rolled his eyes, "I'll get it."

"Careful, it might be the Jehovah's witnesses."

"I bring a crowbar with me."

Sauron crept on his knees over to the door and turned the door handle very slowly. He peeked around the door.

"Erm, is Nickel - could you not look at me like I'm insane!" Someone shrieked from the other side of the door.

I sighed, "Who's there?" I called.

"It's Gina!" the someone replied, "And if this is that guy who answered the phone, I need to give Kelsey a talking to about her choice of friends - that's my shoe, you fiend!"

I rolled my eyes, "Let her in, Sauron. It's one of Nickel's friends."

"What is his problem?" Gina asked, skittering into the kitchen, "And where's Nickel?"

"She's upstairs." Sauron said blandly.

"Thank you." Gina turned around and marched up the stairs.

"Do you think we should've told her-?"

"Nah." We listened eagerly.

"Who the hell is that?" Gina screamed with all the projection of a born actress.

A few moments passed, and Gina descended the stairs, Nickel and Glorfindel tripping along lightly behind her, neither of them wearing shoes, but otherwise all parts intact.

"I think I need something to drink." Gina moaned, "Why didn't you tell me, Nickel - no, don't answer that, you did tell me. Life is so weird right now." She seemed to wake up a bit after that, "Why were you feeling suicidal when you've got him?"

Glorfindel preened himself smugly.

Nickel developed a strange fascination with the ceiling.

Gina rolled her eyes, "So who's the creepy guy?"

"Sauron is not creepy." I admonished, "He's just misunderstood."

Glorfindel snorted.

"He's an evil overlord." Nickel said brightly.

"Don't introduce him to Meagan then." Gina said darkly.

Nickel perked up, "You're brilliant, Gina!" She exclaimed, "Meagan! Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Think of what?" I asked cautiously.

"We are going to visit the one person with the ability to help us displace Morgoth." Nickel announced.

I surveyed the crowd we were, "We'll be cramped in my car . . ."

"She's just down the street." Nickel assured me, "We'll walk - come on, Glorfindel."

We all followed her down the street to a perfectly normal looking house, with roses in the front yard, neatly trimmed grass and a minivan in the driveway. Suburbia in a picture. Nickel marched up the driveway and knocked on the door cheerfully.

A little boy opened the door, screamed, and ran away.

We waited.

"Shouldn't you knock again?" I asked.

"Nope." Nickel said cheerfully.

"He didn't look like he was going to let us in anytime soon."

"What's that got to do with it?"

I let Nickel be.

Soon, though, the door opened, revealing a short girl with wildly curly dark hair and a flute in one hand, "Hey, Nicole, what's up? So that's the creepy guy." She peered at Sauron, fascinated.

He stuck out his tongue.

"Maybe if you wore something more colorful . . ." Gina suggested.

"He'd look like he was gay then." Glorfindel argued.

"We need your help, Meagan." Nickel ignored us, "We have an evil being out to kill us, so . . ."

"What do you want me to do?" Meagan asked.

"Nickel . . ."

"What Glorfindel?"

"The others are back." He pointed up the road, to where Mandy's car could be seen pulling into the driveway.

"What did she feed him?" Nickel asked, awed slightly.

"Feed who?" Gina, Meagan and I asked.

"Oh!" Nickel laughed, "I forgot, he's invisible, "Come with us, Meagan."

"I've got to get my flute case."

"Well, hurry!" Nickel pushed Meagan back inside, "What on earth did she feed him?"


	13. Legolas is High

**Reveiws: **

**Queen Islanzadi: **Legolas's reaction to coffee was inspired by the fact that I was alughing so hard at something once (during my birthday party) that I couldn't blow out my candles. Gina had to do it.

**nightstarz:** Sauron is special. He's one of the characters that's fun to write about. he just kindof goes his own way in the story.

**anonymous authoress:** it's an intruiging idea, though I don't really know where I would want them to go. They do have their own oneshots that follow after this story (does it ever end?) Gina and meagan aren't going to just get thrown away if you worry about them. This whole story brings back characters and finishes off their fates.

**Chapter 13**

Legolas is High

**Nickel's PoV**

After Legolas was relieved from being visibly challenged, Gina, Meagan and Penelope joined in on wondering what Mandy had fed him.

"I gave him some coffee!" She answered brightly, "He looked a little depressed." She stroked Legolas's hair back, "Shh, honey, now breathe in . . . and out . . . very good."

Legolas burst out into renewed hysterical laughter.

"At least he's not being angsty." Meagan pointed out, "Now could someone please explain to me who all these new acquaintances are before I go mad?"

I pulled Glorfindel forward, "This is my husband Glorfindel."

Meagan's eyes bugged out.

"That is Legolas, and over there is Haldir - he answered the phone, Gina - and that's Sauron. They're all elves."

"I'm insulted!" Sauron protested loudly, grinding his foot into my driveway, "I'm a disposed evil overlord - not an elf." He glared at Glorfindel.

Why does everyone hate Glorfindel?

"Really?" Meagan stared at him, eyes alight with kindled interest, "So what's the evil doohickey out to get you?" (A/N: did you know doohickey is in my spell check dictionary?)

"That would be Sauron's former boss, Morgoth." I said brightly.

Haldir raised his hand.

"Yes, Haldir?"

"Is that really Sauron?" He stared at Sauron, "I thought he didn't have a body anymore?"

Sauron rolled his eyes, "Morgoth did me a favor after he got over the fact that I was trying to rule the world without him."

"Oh . . . does that mean you're on our side?"

"No, it means I was on his side."

Haldir crinkled his forehead in concentration, "I'm confused."

Kelsey glared at Sauron for confusing her elf, "I think he's on our side now though, right Nickel?"

"He brought Glorfindel back." I told them as if this answered the question which, in my book, it did.

"So what are we doing, now that we have" Kelsey looked around, "a disposed evil Maiar, three good Maiar, three elves and three humans on our side?"

"There are six humans." Gina protested, "And what is a Maiar?"

"I'll tell you later." I promised, "It's a long story."

"You forgot my flute." Meagan waved the case at Kelsey, "It's on our side!"

"Lovely." Mandy managed to breathe out faintly before Legolas started to fall over with laughter. "What do I do, Nickel?" She gasped out, supporting Legolas somehow.

"I don't know, I avoid letting Glorfindel anywhere near caffeine."

Glorfindel regarded Legolas with a thoughtful expression.

"Don't even think about it!" I warned him, and then to Mandy, "He'll probably be like that for a while. Perhaps we should take him somewhere . . ."

"Such as?" Penelope looked around, "There's nowhere to go, and we can't fit all ten of us in Mandy and my cars. Not that any of the elves will sit near Sauron anyways." She gave him a hug.

"Well he's creepy." Gina pointed out.

Penelope stuck out her tongue.

"Let's go camping!" Mandy suggested gleefully.

"Why?" Meagan asked.

"Because . . . because we can!" Mandy concluded triumphantly.

"I like that idea." I joined in, "We have tons of camping stuff - my brother and dad went somewhere with cabins for summer camp this year so it's all still here."

"Legolas and I can share a tent . . ."

"Mandy, you are sleeping with me." Kelsey admonished.

"But Legolas is high!"

"All the more reason for Haldir to look after him and not you."

Mandy's head drooped, "Darn."

"Let's go get some tents, Kelsey." I pulled her inside, "The rest of you make sure you don't look suspicious."

"Why would they look suspicious?" Glorfindel asked, following us inside.

I stopped walking at gaped at him, "Sauron is a good ten feet tall." I pointed out blandly.

"And?"

I rolled my eyes, "You're impossible, Glorfindel."

He smiled and started to whistle.

Kelsey decided we were insane and ignored Glorfindel. "So are you going to sleep with him?"

Glorfindel's smile grew bigger.

"Don't encourage him." I sighed, "But yes, I will. And there's another two man tent for the other elves, and a one man for Sauron." I dug in the closet, "The rest of you get the Taj Mahal of tents."

Kelsey helped me pull out the box, "Is it that big?"

"Yep, multiple rooms even - if you can figure out how to hang the walls."

"Do you ever set these tents up?"

"Nope - this will be an experience."

"I think we should all go back to Arda." Glorfindel muttered.

"You would." I shot over my shoulder.

"Why?" Kelsey asked Glorfindel.

"Would you like to be invisible for the majority of your life?"

"Oh . . ."

"He just wants to get the Valar to help." I told Kelsey, "He doesn't think we can do it."

"Can we?" She asked.

"Morgoth has no resources here except three _boys_." We have his second in command on our side and more strength than he does - armament wise, that is. The only problem is Morgoth himself."

"You didn't die because of him." Glorfindel said sourly.

"I died when you did, Glorfindel." I stroked his face softly, "I was miserable until I found you again. Do you remember-?"

Kelsey cleared her throat loudly as our faces came closer together. I sighed and pecked Glorfindel lightly on the cheek.

"You could try to be less obvious about it." She muttered. I gave Glorfindel a couple tents to carry and pulled out the cooking supplies. He left, but Kelsey hung back with her load of bedding, "I know you love him, Nickel and that you're married, but-"

"Is this because Haldir hasn't proposed?" I asked.

"Your confusing me with Mandy. Haldir proposed this morning. What I meant to say was that not everyone wants to know how good Glorfindel looks - we honestly don't care. And I think it makes Gina kind of sad. Just think about it." She added gently.

I laughed, "I feel like I'm Mandy now, and you're me."

She smiled, "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

**Meagan's PoV**

The evil overlord had his arm halfway around Penelope - like he owned her or something. I rolled my eyes a bit. She caught the gesture and smiled, "he's not creepy, is he?" She mouthed.

I shook my head.

Sauron stared at me, puzzled.

Gina elbowed me, "Look at Legolas."

The elf had been in hysterics before - it reminded me vaguely of Nickel when she found something amusing. He was turning a bit blue, and tears were leaking out of his eyes. Mandy fluttered anxiously about; trying to help him stop laughing, but every movement sent him into further paroxysms. Haldir watched gravelly, while Gina had a mildly amused smile on her face. She was far more used to this kind of thing that Mandy was - Nickel tended to get hysterical around Gina.

Finally, Legolas calmed down, breathing a little calmer, sitting up - though a spasm of laughter would still overwhelm him. Before twenty minutes had passed, he was sane again.

"Oh, Legolas!" Mandy threw herself at him, "You're alive!"

He laughed and she pulled back nervously, but this was normal laughter.

"I am never giving you coffee again!" She announced, "That was scary!"

Sauron sighed, "Was it scarier than me?"

"I'm still not sure who you are." Mandy answered.

"I am Sauron, Lord of the Rings!" Sauron got even bigger (if that was possible) and his skin went from pale to fog colored with a radioactive tint.

"He must have gone swimming in the lake." Gina whispered, "I told you it was radioactive."

"Oh . . . Hello!" Mandy held out her hand.

"Only dead people scare her." Legolas sighed.

"No! I was scared just now when you weren't breathing."

"That would indicate that he was dead." Gina said, lacing her voice with sarcasm.

"Not necessarily." I argued, "Dead people don't become alive again - and Legolas is quite obviously alive."

"I can change that if you like." Sauron suggested, "And not everyone stays dead - look at Glorfindel."

"What about Glorfindel?" Gina asked.

"He doesn't stay dead." Penelope answered, "It's a thorn in Morgoth's side that he can't get that elf to stay dead."

"I think he must have annoyed Morgoth worse than Fëanor." Legolas added, "At least Fëanor stayed dead."

"Nobody liked Fëanor though." Haldir argued, "He was annoying and vindictive. Most people like Glorfindel."

"I don't like Glorfindel." Sauron pointed out.

"You don't like anyone." Legolas said acidly.

"Hey!" Penelope interjected, "No provoking of deadly dark lords. Behave."

"I'm glad you'll admit that I'm deadly." Sauron cooed at her. It was sickening.

"Now that you've been reincarnated-"

"Don't joke about reincarnation!" Legolas glared at Haldir, "I might end up like Glorfindel!"

"Married to Nickel?" Gina asked, "I think she's taken."

"Would you people just listen?" Haldir shouted.

"Listen to the March warden. Got it." Mandy bobbed her head repeatedly.

"Kelsey has agreed to marry me!"

There was a stunned silence.

"That's nice." Mandy said in a dead voice, standing up. Legolas pulled her back onto the grass next to him.

"What's marriage?" Sauron asked.

"She's seventeen." Gina gasped.

"Nickel's been married since . . . how long has she been married exactly?" I asked.

"Counting while I was dead or not?" Glorfindel asked, striding across the yard.

"Er . . ."

"We were married the year people moved into Gondolin." He supplied.

"Nobody here knows much about Gondolin." Nickel explained, coming up behind him. "I'd give it rough estimate of twelve thousand years or so - a couple hundred in Gondolin, about ten thousand in between and then two years since we met again while Sauron was in power."

Sauron preened himself.

"Everyone ready?" Kelsey asked. Haldir took her bundle instantly.

"Off to the land of the little green worms!" Nickel cheered.

"Oh no!" Gina and Glorfindel moaned in unison. They shared a look, "Do we have to?" They asked.

Nickel rolled her eyes, "Cowards."


	14. Into the Land of the Little Green Worms

**Reveiws:**

**Queen Islanzadi:** We had to do something new, keep you on your toes and all that.

**Nightstarz:** it is. There are these vile little green worms every spring in my neighborhood and you can't walk anywhere without getting bits of worms-web in your face.

**Meagan:** not that I know of, you didn't realize the implications of marriage, kelsey is a maiar, the little green worms have served a purpose - inspiration!

**Gina:** that's a need to know basis . . . acctually, I don't know . . . I would asume we were giving each other foot massages? (bare feet)

**Author's note: **

I'm sorry if this chapter offends anyone. (mostly I'm worried about Kelsey) Nickel was possessed at the time of this being written - actually, Glorfindel decided Penelope and Sauron were running the story too much. It's all really sweet, albeit slightly out of the normal realm or our characters.

**Chapter 14**

Into the Land of the Little Green Worms

**Nickel's PoV**

I stretched awake, finger tips brushing the inside of our tent. A pile of blankets created a miniature mount doom at my feet.

"Good morning, sleepy." Glorfindel wrapped his arms around me.

I giggled and twisted around so I could kiss him. He slid his hands up my arms, catching my wrists and kissing my fingertips.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, rubbing my nose in his shirt.

"Yes, but you didn't."

"How do you know that?"

"You kicked me."

"Oh . . . sorry." I sat up and pulled on my sweater, "What time is it?"

"Pretty early. Kelsey and Haldir are up. Kelsey took the opportunity to check on us."

"How sweet of her." I pulled on my boots, "Wait . . . when was this?"

"You were back to sleeping like a normal person."

"Good, she thinks I'm insane enough as it is." I pulled up one pant leg, "Do you see any bug bites? I swear there mosquitoes everywhere last night."

"hmm, let me see." He sat up, and pulled me over.

"Glorfindel, that's my knee!" I shrieked.

"Could you keep it down!" Someone yelled, "We're trying to sleep!"

I poked Glorfindel, "Can I have my leg back?"

"No."

I rolled my eyes and started fighting for possession of my body parts. "I need that leg, Glorfindel."

"You can have it back later."

"I want it back now."

"What are you two doing in there?" Kelsey asked, her shadow stretched to insane proportions across the tent flap.

"Err . . ."

"Breakfast is ready."

Glorfindel gave up on my leg and pulled on his boots. I retrieved the one that he had stolen and unzipped the flap, "Out you get, Pastrami."

Glorfindel picked me up before my boot was properly on and carried me outside.

"Ew!" I squealed as a web of something brushed my face. I wiped it off and took to waving my hand in front of my face. Being carried around by a tall guy had its drawbacks.

Glorfindel sat down on a picnic bench with me still on his lap and secured my shoe.

"What were you two doing last night?" Legolas asked from his side of the fire.

"Sleeping." I replied, "What were you doing?"

"Trying to sleep." He said acidly, "It sounded like you two were trying to strangle each other - is married life that bad?"

"For your information, Legolas" I glared at him, understanding perfectly well what he _thought_ he had heard, "Glorfindel was fully clothed the entire night."

"And you?"

"I think you should be more concerned about the state of Mandy's clothes than mine - unless . . ." I trailed off, curling my hair around my finger.

Legolas turned away, disgusted.

"That wasn't very nice." Glorfindel poked me.

"I just had too." I told him, "What's for breakfast, Kelsey?"

"Buttermilk biscuits!" She announced, uncovering the dutch oven and pulling out a lethal looking spatula.

"Never, ever, cover me up with a wool blanket again, Glorfindel." I said between bites, "I dreamed about bugs all night . . . then again, it might be that shirt." I stared at it appraisingly, "yep, that shirt has got to go."

Legolas rolled his eyes. Kelsey kicked me.

"What?"

She raised an eyebrow. I ignored her in favor of watching the little green thing descending slowly from a tree towards her left shoulder.

"Not to alarm you, Kelsey, but don't move." I stood up cautiously and grabbed a stick, "On the count of three, duck."

Kelsey's eyes widened.

"One. Two. Three!" I swung the stick, catching the little green worm and its silky web, winding it up and throwing it into the fire.

Kelsey cautiously stood up, "What was that about?"

Sauron emerged from his tent, "Did you get attacked by one of those little green worm things?"

"Almost." I answered, pointing to the stick. I looked up and saw Sauron for the first time that morning. I mean _really_ saw him, "What happened to you?"

Everyone stared at him.

"The little green worms tend to follow me." He apologized.

"Join the club." I told him, "There are some showers down the road."

"I'll be fine." He brushed uselessly at the webs surrounding him, "Actually, could you build up that fire?"

"Sure." Kelsey pulled over some bigger logs and got to work with Haldir's help.

As they worked, Penelope, and Mandy came out of their tent. Mandy sat with Legolas and watched, while Penelope stared horrified at what the nasty worms had done to Sauron.

When the fire was big enough to fit one of us easily, Sauron _jumped in._

Those of us who were close to the fire jumped out of the way of the sparks, but Penelope rushed forward screaming.

"SAURON!" She screeched, "You idiot!"

The fire died down to reveal a perfectly normal - for him anyways - Sauron.

"What?" He asked.

"You are the stupidest evil overlord I ever met!" She whacked him. He didn't seem to notice, "Don't you ever do that again - you hear me? Or I'll . . . I'll . . ."

Sauron abruptly picked her up and kissed her.

"Ew." Legolas muttered, but the rest of us ignored him.

Penelope distractedly blinked a bit, and fell over onto Sauron.

"Is she alright?" He asked me.

I shrugged, "I think so - she's probably in shock."

Sauron regarded Penelope tenderly - it looked odd on him.

Meagan and Gina emerged from the Taj Mahal, "What's up with Penelope?" Gina asked.

"Sauron kissed her." Kelsey sighed, "They should have waited till they got married."

Sauron gazed blearily at Kelsey, "What exactly is marriage anyways? Penelope said something about joint bank accounts, but I couldn't understand what she was saying."

Kelsey rolled her eyes.

**Kelsey's PoV**

I made Mandy and Legolas clean up after breakfast and - leaving Nickel to take care of Penelope - pulled Haldir in to the trees.

"Are you Alright, Kelsey?" He asked, clearly puzzled.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." I ran my fingers through my hair, cut short for the summer to just past my jaw, "I just wanted to be alone with you for a moment."

He tilted his head, "Do you need to think?"

I laughed, "I need to stop thinking. I'm afraid to mother Nickel because she doesn't need it, but I'm worried because her marriage to Glorfindel seems so sudden even though she says it's been millennia . . ."

"Shh." Haldir caught my wrists and pressed them to my sides - away from my frizzing hair, "But something else is worrying you."

I grimaced, "You're good. It's just . . . Legolas is getting very cynical."

"He isn't as sure of Amanda as I am of you."

"How? She throws herself at him - quite literally."

He hesitated a moment, "But that doesn't mean she loves him. The fact that she was with someone else-"

I placed a finger over his lips, "We didn't think we would return to Arda - or that you would follow us."

Haldir frowned, "Are you including yourself in that grouping because-"

A scream rent the air behind us - at the campsite. Haldir took one look at my frightened eyes and pulled me along at a run. We burst into the clearing to find only a mass of translucent, shining webs.

**Mandy's Pov**

"Sword!" Legolas yelled.

I looked around, "I have a butter knife . . . "

Legolas seized it and began sawing through the thickening webs around us.

"What about the fire?" Meagan suggested.

"I don't think that will work." Gina gazed pointedly at the fire - or what was the remainder of the fire - a mass of suicidal green worms had suffocated it.

"Zikes!" I screeched as a web drifted across my face, "ew."

"These things are vicious!" Nickel yelled, pulling Penelope away from the wall of silk, Sauron and Glorfindel holding her feet, "And someone is coordinating them." She cursed vividly.

I widened my eyes, "This must be bad."

Meagan rolled her eyes, "No duh."

Gina dubiously poked the walls with a stick, "Why are they hard? They should by squishy."

The point of a fiery sword broke through the wall - where her head had been a moment before. Gina yelped and scrambled back to the rest of us. Legolas continued to saw through with the butter knife.

"Mandy! Nickel!" Kelsey and Haldir called through a hole Legolas had carved. He was so brave . . .

A stick poked through, tearing the hole larger. We would escape. I could have fainted with relief.

But the fiery sword had carved a door as well - a much larger one. Sauron and Glorfindel were closest to it, ready for anything. The door burst open, revealing a very angry looking Ernie and an army of little green worms.

"Hurry!" I poked Legolas, seizing a stick and trying to help. Meagan and Gina joined me, but Nickel and Penelope . . .

"You!" Ernie pointed his sword at Penelope.

"Yes, me. Put that sword down now - you could hurt someone."

He glared at her, "You and Sauron will be punished!"

Nickel patted his arm, "Sorry, Morgoth."

At that moment, our escape was secured. The four of us working on it rushed out, the others close on our heels.

"No!" Ernie screamed, "Not again!"

A boom like thunder rocked the ground. I turned and gasped. Glorfindel lay on the ground between Ernie and a seething Nickel. Penelope and Sauron crept out. Sauron took one last glance.

"Oh no."

Nickel literally _glowed_. She pointed one shaking finger at Ernie, "This is the last time, Morgoth. Believe me when I tell you _never again_!"

He quailed a bit as she glared at him, but - a wide grin spreading across his face - vanished.

Nickel slumped forward, falling to her knees, and brushed back Glorfindel's long hair with extreme tenderness.

"Oh no." Sauron started forward but stopped, holding out his arms so we couldn't go past him to comfort her, "let's go."

"Why?" Kelsey asked, "We have to help her."

"She won't come with us." He said simply." I was there last time - though she didn't know it. You don't want to see this." And he ushered us away though he wasn't fast enough. In the utter silence of the clearing, I saw Nickel disappear in an explosion of sparkling dust motes.


	15. Back When There was Quality Quiche

**Reveiws: **

**Gina:** that's the problem with having you read it, you lose to effect. but meagan read it and she still has questions . . . Maybe b/c she isn't rushed.

**Meagan:** when it's hot or itchy or I've recently had a bad experience with bugs. I had a dream last night about gangs and running people over with SUVs I have weird dreams and they are vaguely inspiring. (don't worry, I won't run over anyone.) No, the shirt will get donated or something; Sauron can't die, fire isn't much of an issue, and he's evil . . . sort of; In case you missed that part, I stated quite clearly in Chapter 6 that Glorfindel visited, why would I wander when I have my own very sexy elf around most of the time? well, getting out of there was the important thing at the time. Would you like to be suffocated by little green worms? I didn't think so. This is fiction, everything is exagerated . . . though I do remember one time .. . Yes, he killed glor again it gets to be really annoying after a while; you read it, don't you remember? you'll see next chapter . .. I think.

**Nightstarz:** yes, well with Glor and Nickel gone, the others are faced with a bit of a dilema since Nickel knows the most about what is going on. I really like that chapter - its a bit more of the sort of mush I like to write but never get to.

**Queen Islanzadi:** as I said, it's a totally different style. Though if you take the time to look back at Fellowship of the Freaks or even TTPBNlT, you will notice how our writing has changed. Or not, that might just be me. Don't worry, the camping is over, though the worms are still at large.

**Anonymous Authoress:** I told you she had taken over. And lo! he PoV starts this chapter. Enjoy.

**Chapter 15**

Back When there was Quality Quiche

**Penelope's PoV**

The annoying, suspicious elf - Legolas - wouldn't shut up before. Now, he was quietly comforting a sobbing Mandy. We couldn't understand a word of what she said, but Sauron kept thinking about it. I knew.

Nickel had essentially exploded out of existence. I hadn't thought Glorfindel was that important to her, but I supposed I could understand.

There was another thought that kept popping across Sauron's mind - something that made me blush a bit. I'd never known an imaginary person this realistic. Maybe . . . well, Nickel seemed to know Sauron - as did her friends.

Kelsey and Haldir were whispering quietly to each other, wondering what to do. Meagan and Gina were trying to comfort Mandy while Sauron . . .

He smiled at me, "Don't worry about them. Glorfindel's stubbornly averse to staying dead. It annoys Morgoth to no end."

"Why doesn't he stay dead?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Nickel probably has Mandos's sympathies or something. Though I'm not sure how he came back the second time - she wasn't there."

I thought about that, "I'm confused."

"Join the club." Gina came over," I haven't the slightest idea what's going on."

Kelsey and Haldir joined us, "Nickel knew it best," Kelsey began, "but the essentials are that the three of us were . . . are Maiar-"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Like Sauron." Haldir explained, "But not evil."

"I'm not evil." Sauron muttered, "I'm misunderstood."

I patted his cheek.

"-and we guarded the void after Morgoth was expelled." Kelsey continued loudly, "But he attacked it at some point - Nickel theorized sometime around the fall of Numenor-"

"It was partly because Illuvatar helped the Valar out." Sauron explained, "And most were looking east."

"So we got sucked into the void, so to speak." Mandy continued between hiccupping sobs, "And then we don't know what happened."

**Gina's PoV**

"So how did we get to Arda?" I asked, "I thought it was a dream, but I don't have dreams about Paco while I'm in math. I usually dream about burning my math book."

Meagan bobbed her head excitedly, "We had a birthday party for Nickel! And there was this weird guy . . ." She trailed off, staring suspiciously at Legolas, "he was there."

"Unfortunately, I remember you," Legolas assured her.

"No idea." Mandy shrugged.

"Haldir and Legolas came here." Kelsey mused, "So I suppose you could go there."

"hmm." Penelope mused a bit, "but did they have a tie to there? Someone they love or something like that?"

"No." I slumped a bit.

"Then I don't think that was it." Penelope frowned, "I don't really understand how the whole thing works. Glorfindel was the guinea pig in the whole thing - but then again, he had a strong mind and Nickel had a weird way of summoning him . . . Any ideas, Sauron?"

Sauron shrugged, "I went into the void because my power was destroyed. The void's a bit easier to stand and it's where everything went. But leaving it? I don't know how you guys managed it." He eyed Kelsey speculatively.

"I guess we won't figure that out." Meagan sighed, "So what's the problem now?"

"Morgoth is loose on the world and trying to destroy us." Legolas told her, "Isn't it obvious?"

"That was the guy with the glowing sword." Kelsey soothed Meagan's confusion.

"Oh . . . that is a problem."

We contemplated it.

"What do we _do_?"

**Kelsey's Pov**

"We have to stop waiting around and do something." I decided, "We could chain Morgoth - that worked in the past."

"I doubt it will work again." Sauron glared at a tree stump. It burst into flames, "And if he escaped the void - twice now - nothing will hold him. He'll have to be reformed."

"Uh . . ." Meagan raised her hand, "can't we kill him?"

"Nope." Sauron sounded incredibly pleased with this, "we aren't technically alive in the same sense elves or men are."

"What about women?" Mandy asked.

Sauron ignored her, "I mean, we have the light of Ea within us as well, but death is a gift to men-"

"And women."

"-alone. Even elves don't . . . vanish when they die."

"We go to the halls of Mandos." Legolas said smugly.

"What if that's where Nickel went?" Gina asked, "To get the elf back."

"Like I told Penelope, Glorfindel won't stay dead." Sauron announced, "I almost feel sorry for Morgoth . . ."

"Why?"

"It annoys him that Glorfindel won't stay dead."

"We could use this . . ." I murmured, "But to do anything to Morgoth, we'll have to get through his army."

"Armies." Mandy corrected me, "Worms and Band nerds."

"What happened to orcs?" Sauron asked the world at large, "Did he get sick of tortured elves or something?"

We ignored him. "How do we use Glorfindel not being dead to reform Morgoth?" Penelope asked.

I smiled slowly, "We drive him insane."

"Um . . . Kelsey?"

"Yes, Meagan?"

"Isn't he already insane - I mean, no sane person tries to take over the world? That's why I'm settling for just Eurasia." Meagan announced smugly.

"And she's giving me France." Gina added.

I shook my head, "Not insane as in crazy, but insane as in he forgets what he's doing and gives up!"

"Oh!"

"I get it!"

"Brilliant."

"Okay."

"It's so simple!"

"Yet not." Legolas interrupted the awed cheers.

"Why not?" Haldir asked, "It will be difficult, but it's still simple."

"How are we going to get a hold of a living Glorfindel?" Legolas asked, "It would be more frustrating if he only stayed dead for a second instead of millennia."

"But this is Nickel we're talking about." Mandy told him, "She unbelievably stubborn. They'll be back and harassing Morgoth by the time we get out of these woods. What was she thinking of, taking us into a national forest - I'm lost."

"You don't have a sense of direction anyways." I told her.

"I do too. I have a car - remember?"

"With a GPS system." I whispered for everyone's benefit, "She gets lost without it."

"Shut up, Kelsey!"

"Back to the subject of driving Morgoth crazy," Haldir ventured, "I don't think we can rely on Nickel to bring Glorfindel back _here_. She wouldn't want him to die. Again."

"Yeah that plan requires elf murdering - isn't that bad luck?" Meagan asked.

"I wouldn't know; I haven't killed any elves." Sauron shrugged.

We all stared at him.

"You've killed elves." Haldir stammered.

Sauron thought about it a bit, "Oh yeah, I have. Sorry about that."

Mandy and I shared an incredulous expression. "Are you okay, Sauron?" She asked, "You're loosing sight of the maim and mangle."

"I was going to take over the world and enslave people nicely using a combination of addictive substances and economic dependency, but it didn't work." He shrugged again, "I'm actually a pacifist - the mouth and eye handled the how of taking over the world."

"You could have given the orcs hygienic facilities." Mandy complained.

"Or been environmentally friendly." I added.

"We hadn't had a green movement yet." Sauron explained, "Or a green revolution. I had all that fertile land - beyond the ashy plain thing, Mordor is quite pretty - and my armies still starved. Actually, I think it was food poisoning . . ."

"We could poison his food." Meagan suggested.

"Whose?"

"Morgoth's"

"I prefer the idea of driving him insane." Penelope said dreamily, "He's so easily frustrated."

"I don't think he needs to eat." Haldir added.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't." Gina argued, "eat that is. Nickel and Mandy and Kelsey eat."

"Sauron doesn't."

"That's because nobody here knows how to cook."

"Kelsey can cook!" Haldir protested.

I beamed.

"Not quiche." Sauron complained, "I haven't had a decent quiche since the spring of Arda."

"Real men don't eat quiche." Legolas quoted.

"They had quiche?" I asked.

"When was the Spring of Arda?" Gina asked.

"What's quiche?"

**Morgoth's PoV**

Phase one was complete. Two of the most powerful among the opposition were disabled, dead in Glorfindel's case. But Sauron had gone to the light side. He would have to be dealt with. I considered killing the psychic girl, but two angry Maiar were too much to deal with for now. Nickel I could deal with as long as she was grief stricken. Kelsey and Mandy were weak and incapable of opposing me. But Sauron was a problem.

"Bring me Lisa." I ordered. Lisa was the recipient of one of three new rings of power - some of Sauron's ideas had been quite brilliant.

Taylor brought Lisa in and left us.

"Yes, my lord?" She asked sarcastically - there were a few kinks to be worked out of my brilliant plan.

"The psychic girl must be dealt with. Drive her to the point where Sauron will leave the opposition to keep her well."

Lisa grinned widely, "Perfect."

I smiled at the darkness around me. My plans were coming to full fruitition. If only I had some good music on my ipod.


	16. Hit List

**Reveiws: **

**Nightstarz:** I'm glad. He's a super awesome character that nobody appreciates. Having a good guy without any morals (which is a bit of a paradox) is really fun.

**Anonymous Authoress:** well . . . that's the whole point, isn't it?

**Gina:** well, I don't really know, I'm not penelope, I just write down what pov info she gives me.

**Queen Islanzadi: **Unfortunatly, Morgoth hasn't found his perfect music blend. Hmm . . . that gives me an idea . .

**Chapter 16**

Hit List

**Nickel's PoV**

There wasn't a point anymore. I could feel my physical form slipping away, but couldn't care. I wished my spirit could fade so easily.

Despite my words to Morgoth, I knew it could - it would - happen again. Glorfindel would get himself killed - he just did things like that.

I remembered the first Glorfindel - how carefree and joyous he had been; how we'd created a language using only our feet and sat under the two trees and spoken without any words . . .

And then he had been killed - not by Morgoth, not directly at least, but by his fellow elves in the kin slaying. I was devastated. My friend, my student, the only elf who understood that I _couldn't_ sing was gone.

I brought him back. I begged Mandos to bring back Glorfindel like I knew he could. It was selfish, and I got what I deserved. He wasn't the same. He was strong and powerful - a warrior. He followed the Noldor to Arda and I followed him. But I was afraid. The Noldor did not care for the Valar or the majority of the Maiar. Glorfindel had promised he'd come back, but I didn't want to say goodbye. I stayed in a hidden valley, with waters that sang, and he came there. Following Turgon, Glorfindel entered Gondolin and I followed once more. I couldn't help but reveal to him that I'd followed, watching him all those years. He was ecstatic. We were married.

I didn't remember Gondolin well - I'd worked to hard to forget it after Glorfindel died protecting his people. And happy memories are so much easier to forget . . . I didn't even know if we'd had a child - if we had, he - or she - would have had Glorfindel's wondrous hair and my eyes. I could almost see them . . .

But he had died - and that had been entirely Morgoth's fault. That scourge of the earth had sacked Gondolin and one of his Balrogs killed Glorfindel, pulling him down with it as it fell. I'd overreacted - just a bit. But what hope could there be of Mandos letting him live again. I despaired and gave up.

But he had come back. Somehow, against the odds, he came back. And I wasn't there. The guilt of that consumed me. I couldn't let it go this time.

It was easier to go to Valinor without a physical form - Glorfindel had worded it perfectly when he said it was a bit like being dead. Not that I would know.

Mandos was my personal favorite of the valar - perhaps because of our association. He was the only vala to completely succeed in learning Glorfindel and I's sign language of the feet - something he found useful since most of the maiar working for him managed to learn a bit. The whole affair required a certain dexterity and strength of the feet - which most Maiar didn't bother to develop.

Mandos took one look at me and shooed his maiar out with a flick of a toe. Due to the fact that neither of us was entertaining a physical form, it was a figurative flick of a figurative toe.

"What happened to you, Mírisil!" Vairë - Mandos's wife - exclaimed.

"I'd forgotten how incredibly nice Vairë and Mandos were. If anyone among the valar would have a psychology degree, it would be Mandos, and Vairë would make a pretty decent high school counselor - especially considering the fact most high school counselors are usually not in the habit of doing anything. Dealing with all those fëa over the years did that kind of thing.

Mandos looked over to one of several entrances to the main hall. A glowing fëa came in at that moment with a completed survey.

"Oh, I see." Vairë wrung her figurative hands.

"Stay here, Glorfindel." Mandos held back the fëa, "I'm so sorry, Mírisil. Was it Morgoth?"

"I wish we could do something!" Vairë sighed.

"Yes, it was." I didn't tear my eyes away from Glorfindel, "Can I have him back?"

Mandos picked up the little translucent blob and sighed, "I really wish he would stop dying - it stresses you out so much. But here you go." He handed Glorfindel over, "Take care."

"If you need any help, just send him over." Vairë smiled, "We wish we could help with Morgoth, but . . ."

"I know." I mumbled distractedly. It is difficult to understand - unless you have done so - what it feels like to hold in your hands the spirit of someone else - especially someone you love. This is all figurative of course, so maybe you have.

I dragged Glorfindel out of Mandos - his dwelling that is, he's often confused with it - and out of Aman. Drat! I'd have to find him a body. I muttered to myself about how inconvenient dead people were.

Now where to find a nice, decent, unused body . . . I looked around.

"What's going on?" Glorfindel asked, "I'm cold."

"Ha! Oh, thank Eru, I've found a body." I started stuffing Glorfindel into the body of a rather nice looking elf.

"No! I don't like it!" He protested loudly, "I just died. I don't want to!"

"You're getting a body whether you like it or not, Glorfindel!"

"Can't I just flutter around like this?"

I sighed, "But you're getting a body as soon as I can make one."

"Yah! No body!"

"You are such a weird elf."

"I married you."

I beamed, "At least it will be easier to traverse the void.

He beamed back at me, "I love when you listen to me."

My smile disappeared, "All this not getting my way is going to give me a complex."

"You know you like acquiescing."

"At any rate, it isn't healthy. Don't wander."

**Meagan's PoV**

Back at the campground parking lot, we piled into Penelope and Mandy's cars in search of the evil guy that killed Glorfindel. Gina and I were with Penelope, since the elves still didn't trust Sauron. I thought he was kind of cool.

"So what is with Nickel and Glorfindel?" I asked, "Why did she go blow herself up over him - and more importantly, why did they share a tent?"

Gina raised her eyebrows at me incredulously, "They're married, Meagan."

I blinked, "What?"

"Glorfindel. And. Nickel. Are. Married." Gina said slowly for my benefit."

"She's eighteen."

"No she isn't." Sauron growled from shotgun, "She's several ages old."

"How long is an age?"

"Anywhere from three thousand years to ten millennia. It's not an exact unit."

"Oh." I thought about that for a moment, "How? She doesn't look that old."

"Why would she look old?" Sauron asked.

"Let me rephrase that, she doesn't _act_ that old."

"I think she's five." Gina chimed in, "She has the right attention span."

"I think Glorfindel makes her feel young." Penelope concluded, "How old is he, anyways?"

"Several millennia."

"Oh . . . never mind."

Gina grinned.

**Lisa's PoV**

I inched my car forward a little farther. I could see them in the other car. Just a little closer … I did the little mind trick like focusing my eyes that let me get in their heads. Sauron I recognized - he had been background noise when I was in Lothlorien. There were two others and . . .

"You are going the wrong way." I murmured.

She switched the blinker off and went straight as the light turned green instead of following Mandy's car. I smiled and hit the gas.

Under my directing, Penelope drove out of town to an isolated shack by the highway. Occasionally I had to stop the others from protesting, but Sauron was surprisingly accepting of Penelope's wandering. I pulled over behind her and got out of the car. Sauron was the first to get out.

"Hello." He loomed over the little voltzwagon, "Who are you and what do you want?"

I ignored him and concentrated on Penelope. She sprang out of the car and started dancing around it. The other two got out; I recognized them to be Gina and Meagan.

Sauron watched Penelope mildly, "Are you finished?" He asked me, "Or would you like me to do something?"

Gina and Meagan gaped at me, "Lisa, are you being evil?" Meagan asked.

Gina sat down on the ground, "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"We're in Texas." Meagan corrected her.

"Exactly."

Sauron glared at them and turned back to me, "That answers one question. What do you want, Lisa?"

I didn't really want to answer that. Instead, I made Penelope leap and scramble over her car to Sauron's side and kiss him. This didn't have quite the effect I wanted, but it still worked well enough.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and she broke free of my hold to wrap hers around his neck. I struggled to pull her away, but it was too strong, too private.

**Mandy's PoV**

"I really think we ought to chill out and relax for a while." I complained, "We haven't done anything fun except that movie."

"I though you enjoyed yourself." Kelsey answered acidly.

"I did, but that was ages ago."

"It's been two days."

"Exactly." I made an executive decision and flicked on my turn light.

"You're going the wrong way."

"I'm taking a detour, Kelsey."

"Where are we going?" Haldir asked.

"um . . .Mandy?"

"Yes, Legolas?"

"The others aren't following us. They went straight."

"Well that's odd. Call Gina, Kelsey." I pulled to a stop at another light.

"Can I do it?" Haldir asked, pulling Kelsey's phone out of her purse where it sat on the backseat, "How does this thing work?"

Kelsey sighed plaintively and twisted around to dial Gina's cell, "Now press 'talk' and it'll start ringing."

Haldir tentatively hit the call button and held the phone to his ear, "Hello? Gina, this is - oh . . ." He pulled the phone away from his ear, clearly puzzled, "She's not listening."

Kelsey took the phone gently and hung up, "That's voicemail. I'll call Meagan."

I hit the gas, "I hope Nickel was right and Sauron is good."

"I don't think it's Sauron." Legolas said, surprising us.

"What?" Haldir poked Kelsey, "He's gone insane."

"Yeah, I know. Explain yourself, Legolas."

"Well . . . I think Sauron's had many opportunities to prove traitor. But he hasn't. Morgoth must have sent someone else."

"Do you think someone's following us?" Haldir asked, fearfully glancing around.

"Nope." Legolas said cheerfully, "Sauron and Penelope are higher up on his hit list."

**Sauron's PoV**

Penelope and I pulled apart in the same instant and I glared at the creature that had attempted to harm us. She burst into flames.

"Whoa!" Meagan screamed, "Just because you're in love doesn't mean you have to literally inflame everyone else."

Gina continued to sit on the ground, "Lisa's fine. She had a magic ring."

"I absolutely hate Morgoth." I decided loudly, "He is a plagiarizer."

"Plagiarism is bad." Meagan yelled, "Almost as bad a setting people on fire."

"She's not dead." Gina repeated, "She's just out of action right now - like Glorfindel."

"I thought we decided Glorfindel was dead." Penelope ran one hand along my jaw.

I smiled, 'We did." We leaned together . . .

"Um . . . lovebirds? I hate to interrupt, but does anyone know where we are?"

"No." I answered slowly.

"Great. Well Gina and I will be in the car until you're finished."

"Where were we?" I asked.

Penelope smiled.

**Lisa's PoV**

It was very dark, and very boring. I floated. I had no idea where I was, but what did it matter, I could get some decent sleep here. There was no way Morgoth could be yelling and screaming at me here. It was just too . . . empty. He wouldn't fit. I drifted off to sleep.

**Morgoth's PoV**

I threw the third ipod today against the wall, "Why is there no decent music on this thing!" I exploded.

"Sorry, Ernie, don't screech."

I threw a pen at Taylor, "Respect me, lackey, I am Morgoth!" I regarded the ipod remains thoughtfully, "And I don't screech. Send in the others. You are dismissed to your hole."

Taylor grumbled something, but sent Tomato and Scott in.

"Lisa has failed to incapacitate Sauron and the Psychic. I grant to each of you a ring of power and to each of you one of my armies. Tomato, take the Bands of Morgoth and this ring of fire. Guard my fortress. Scott, to you I give my army of worms and my ring of deceit. Capture Sauron and the Girl. The others must be destroyed."

My minions cackled gleefully. Taylor sat in his corner in the hall. He was proving to be stubborn. He would not fall before me or understand my evil. Well, there is always one black sheep.

"Get me a new ipod, Taylor" I ordered. Perhaps hard rock would satisfy my musical cravings.

**Author's Note:** Please leave very constructive reveiw as this is the last completed chapter. I don't know where to send Haldir, Kelsey, Mandy and Legolas, but I'm sure you have some great ideas. Some help would get the next update to you faster.


	17. The rentacop

**Reveiws: **

**L'ame violette:** well, you gave me help with the music if that makes you feeel better - not that anybody knows this chapter and the tree house - though it needs elaboration.

**Queen Isalanzadi:** unfortunally, Legolas will not be going to Austrailia. Airfare's kind of high right now, and he has no money. Enjoy though.

**nightstarz:** Plagerism is meagan's favorite topic when it comes to 'things that are evil'

**Anonymous Authoress:** well, sauron was a very important evil underlord before he was an overlord. Morgoth never was stupid. Delegation and organization are steps to power.

**JB chick:** A new reveiwer! Have a cookie (Glorfindel baked them) Please, if you have any questions, ask away. I will try to answer them and you never know, you just might inspire me!

Enjoy, everyone!

**Chapter 17**

The Rent-a-Cop

**Gina's PoV**

The car was very silent after Sauron and Penelope rejoined us. We drove towards the southern edge of nowhere - back to civilization. I counted the twenty-fifth inhabited building before anyone said a word.

"Morgoth isn't as weak here as we thought." Sauron said gravelly, having just unscrambled his brain and wiped the silly smile off his face. "He has given power to others - created a hierarchy."

"That would indicate that there are enough of them to need organization, wouldn't it?" Meagan mused, "And it's not as if we can drive Morgoth insane without Nickel and her elf."

"Is anyone besides Sauron any sort of expert on the history of Middle Earth?" I asked, "We need something different - at least, until we can implement the 'drive Morgoth insane' plan."

Penelope shrugged, "I wouldn't know."

"Me neither." Meagan added, "Though you'd figure that something would stick after all the 'history of Arda in four minutes' sessions Nickel subjected me to."

"I always meant to read those books." I admitted, "I just didn't."

"Well that leaves me then," Sauron stared intently at the dice hanging from Penelope's rearview mirror. They started to smolder.

"I have it!" I exclaimed, "Sauron, how good are you at that bursting things into flame act?"

"Well, I can melt most metals - it was really handy when forging the rings of . . . oh."

"He could burn up the worm army!" Meagan exclaimed.

"It takes a lot of concentration." Sauron pointed out, "I don't just spout fire like a dragon or a Balrog. For your information, my specialty is shape-shifting. And being bad is weakening. For evil's sake, I was beaten by a hobbit!"

"How embarrassing." I muttered.

"But I'm really good with spiders."

"Huh?" Penelope glanced away from the road, "How is that relevant?"

"Morgoth can't stand spiders."

"He can't?"

"He had a real bad experience with this one spider - Ungoliant. See, he had her destroy the two trees and she wanted to eat the Silmarils too. They got into a bit of a fight and he barely got out of there. We wrote some pretty amusing ballads in Barad-dur because of that."

"So we could attack Morgoth like he attacked us?"

"Exactly."

I cleared my throat, "Are you sure you're up to that, Sauron?"

"Spiders are easy. They like me anyways. Mirkwood - that's where Legolas lives - has the most amazingly vicious spiders because of me."

"Remind me never to visit Mandy after she gets married." I whispered to Meagan.

**Kelsey's PoV**

"So where exactly are we going, Mandy?" I asked.

"Well I was thinking one of the theme parks-"

"Not Happening."

"-Or a museum."

"That could be potentially disastrous."

"How is that disastrous?" Haldir asked, "And what exactly do you mean by Museum?"

"It's a place where old, expensive of crazy stuff is put on display for education purposes." Mandy explained.

"Before we go anywhere, Mandy, stop at my house. I need to check on the plants."

Mandy changed lanes swiftly and executed a nearly flawless left turn into my neighborhood. I say nearly flawless because Haldir and Legolas were knocked to one side in the back seat. Though that was partially their fault.

"Do you keep sentient plants on your land, Kelsey?" Legolas asked after recovering. There was going to be a nasty bruise by nightfall.

"No . . . why?"

"You said you needed to check on them . . ." Haldir elaborated.

"We haven't had any rain for a while." I explained, "My parents wanted me to make sure the plants didn't die."

"Oh . . . How does a Maiar have parents?"

I shrugged, "You'd have to ask Nickel - I wouldn't know." Mandy pulled into my driveway and I hopped out. Thank Eru the front yard was still alive and the back yard was thriving as well. I pulled out my key and unlocked the door.

Light flooded the hallway, revealing my parents bookshelf. On it were their favorite books - most of which were now my favorites as well.

I ran my finger down the spine of 'Pride and Prejudice' and along the wooden shelf, stopping beneath a well worn copy of the Silmarilion. I pulled it off the shelf, opening to a dog-eared passage.

'_And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after.'_

"Kelsey"

I yelped, throwing the book in the air and slipping on the tile floor.

Haldir caught me, "You didn't come out for an hour - we got a bit worried."

I gestured helplessly toward the book, "Got distracted." I breathed deeply in and out, "I think I'll water the houseplants now."

I made my way to the kitchen. Haldir followed, picking up the Silmarilion.

"I thought you knew everything because you are Maiar." He stated pointedly.

"Well, it's all in a series of books. The whole History . . . except it's different . . ." I trailed off thoughtfully, "I'm finished here."

Haldir frowned at the book in his hand, leaving me no choice but to snatch it up and reshelf it, dragging Haldir out the door.

"Don't worry about it - as Mandos says somewhere in there, 'it will all end in doom' anyways."

"Not funny." Haldir complained as I locked the door.

Mandy was scowling at her steering wheel, 'My mother called."

"What'd you tell her?" I asked.

"Not much. I have to go straight home - then the interrogation begins."

I winced, "So . . ."

"See if Nickel exists again." Haldir suggested.

"Or Penelope is still intact." Legolas interjected, climbing out of the Porsche.

"I'll call Gina again." I promised Mandy, "Don't let you mother do Morgoth's work."

"Well that's just the thing; do you think you'll be okay?"

"Since Legolas and Haldir technically don't exist, I'm not breaking my parent's rules if we shelter in my house. But I'll try to get a hold of someone else first."

"Okay then, I'm off to certain doom."

"Go already!"

Mandy screeched out of my driveway, waving crazily.

"Why is Mandy in trouble?" Legolas asked.

"She went camping without permission or warning." I shrugged, "I'd be in just as much if not more trouble except my parents are out of town for the week." I dialed Gina's cell for the second time that day. My worry grew as voicemail sounded in my ear. Something was very wrong.

**Penelope's PoV**

I pulled into a gas station. Driving several hours away and back had put a serious dent in my gas budget.

"Don't set anything on fire." I warned Sauron, "Or we'll all be toasted - at least, the toastable people will."

"Got it. You know, I think I'll take a nap." Sauron lay back in his seat.

I rolled my eyes, "Anyone want to stretch their legs?"

"Hell yeah!" Meagan hoped out, "I'm going to buy a coke."

"Oh no you don't!" Gina seized Meagan's arm, "I am NOT sitting in a car with you on sugar."

"Coke Zero?"

"Water, Meagan. Nothing but water." The two argued their way across to the convenience store.

I had finished filling up the car by the time that were back.

"You'll never guess who's in there." Gina whispered conspiratorially.

"I don't thing you even know him." Meagan added.

"It's Scott, the most evil,"

"Deranged,"

"Unpleasant,"

"And fake person on the planet." Meagan finished.

Sauron sat up, "Let's go NOW!"

We threw ourselves in the car. The key stuck in the ignition, but shortly after, we were gone.

"What was it, Sauron?" I asked nervously.

"Three things." Sauron stated blandly, "One, Scott was one of the boys meeting Morgoth. Two he has a ring of power - can't Morgoth come up with his own ideas! Three, he is commanding the little green worms."

"Ah . . . didn't we want to get rid of them?"

"Well, you said no fire in the parking lot."

"Or the car come the think of it."

"Let's set a trap!" Meagan proposed, "I _think_ he saw us."

"That would explain why there is a car in very bad taste behind us." Gina stated dryly, "Do we have any weapons?"

"I found an umbrella." Meagan stated dubiously.

"There's a rapier in the trunk." I sighed, "And a lighter in the glove box."

"And there's some bubble gum in this first aid kit." Meagan added.

"I call the rapier." Gina said swiftly, "Don't let Meagan near the lighter."

I slammed on my brakes and spun my tiny car around, "She can have the umbrella."

Just then, someone started ringing.

"Real suspenseful." Meagan giggled as Gina pulled out her phone.

"It's - oh crap, my battery just died."

"You couldn't have held a very long conversation anyways." Sauron pointed out before flying out his door, towards the rusty old Saab that was flying towards us.

Gina dropped her phone and seized my rapier, "It's better than having Meagan open the umbrella in the car." She shrugged, exiting.

A whoosh followed her exit. I tried to ignore the fact that Meagan was struggling with an open umbrella in my car. I had my own battle. I grabbed my lighter and random flammable things, (body mist, white out, scarves, etc.) Sauron was nowhere to be seen, but a giant spider was sitting on the Saab as its single occupant pointed towards us. I flicked the lighter to life, thinking a tacky come on line was needed for times like this.

**Nickel's PoV**

"Hey, wake up, kid."

I opened my eyes groggily and snapped them shut again. Great. Someone must have it in for me. Come to think of it, someone did.

"Get up, now, girl."

I decided the best course of action was to do as he said. I rolled off the park bench I'd been napping on after the crossing and looked around for Glorfindel.

"You know it's past curfew time, don't you?"

I peered through the darkness at the guy who had woken me up, "Not really." I told him, "I wasn't aware that there was a curfew."

"Well as of twelve at night, all persons are to have exited this park unless they have a camping permit. And you most definitely do not have a camping permit."

"What makes you think that, officer?"

The short little cop glared up at me, "I have a list. There is no one on the list. Therefore, no one has a camping permit. So you certainly do not have one."

"If there's no one on your list, how is it a list?"

He puffed up angrily, "I'm going to have to take you to the station for loitering and violating curfew. I'm sure you've destroyed some public property too, I'll just have to prove it."

I guiltily considered the broken spot in the pier from crossing over; this guy was bound to find it.

"Come on now." The rent-a-cop grabbed my arm and pulled me towards his cruiser.

I waved at Glorfindel where he sat on top of the swings. He did a back flip and glided over. All the way to the station, he sat next to me and watched rent-a-cop drive like a maniac.

Meanwhile, I gathered up my power and prepared myself to create - something Eru is the undisputed expert at. But those of us Ainor who followed his will were given limited creation as well. By the time we reached the little station for this little camping town, I was ready to create a body for Glorfindel with a single word.

The officer inside was tall and skinny - the complete opposite of my captor, "What'd you find now, Jason?" He asked lazily.

"I found this girl loitering in the Hanson Park!" Jason exclaimed proudly, "and I think she's on drugs," he whispered, "Like Heroin or something. She sat real funny in the squad car - like she was holding something. Just look at her, Ian. They'll have to give me a raise for this one."

Ian rolled his eyes, "Put her in a cell for the night and she'll have learned her lesson."

"Aren't you going to do a drug test?"

"Maybe. Right now, I'm going to order a pizza."

Jason puffed out his chest again - as if he could make himself taller, "I'll put her in the cell then, and get the equipment ready for the drug tests - so you don't have to work too hard."

"Sure, sure." Ian picked up the bright red emergency phone and started dialing.

"Eä." I whispered, pointing towards the door.

Glorfindel left my side and spun around in his new body. The door opened with a bang.

"What's going on, here?" Glorfindel boomed.

Rent-a-cop dropped my arm in amazement at the sight of Glor. I must say I did a pretty good job considering the stress I had been going through.

Ian dropped the phone, "Who are you?" He asked in a very small voice.

"I'm asking the questions." Glorfindel growled, "Now what are you doing with my wife?"

"Your wife?" Jason asked, "She can't be over seventeen."

"She's certainly not that young." Glorfindel said in a disgusted voice, "What kind of . . . man do you think I am?"

"Sorry, sir." Ian rushed in, "Jason here's new and a little eager to get himself off minimum wage."

Jason glared, "She broke curfew."

Glorfindel loomed - they had no chance, "She's clinically insane - sees things." He put on a softer tone, "I love her with all my heart, but it's stressful enough without IDIOTS ARRESTING MY WIFE EVERY CHANCE THEY GET!" He glared angrily at Jason, "Now we'll be going." Glorfindel picked me up and walked towards the door.

"But she . . ." Jason trialed off, "Damn it."

Outside, Glorfindel set me down, chuckling softly.

"Insane?" I asked.

"Well it's true." He defended himself, "You see things normal people don't."

"Like dead elves."

"I prefer the term fëa."

"I know." I kissed his shoulder, "I'm glad I clothed you in something normal - imagine that scene with you in your idea of normal clothing." I shuddered with mock horror.

Glorfindel picked me up again, "Let's find somewhere legal to sleep."

**Taylor's PoV**

It was past midnight. I scrambled up the tree house ladder, ignoring the 'no maiar allowed' sign and handed over ipod number sixteen, crossing my fingers. It had been a risk, giving Ernie this music, but I had downloaded all the normal, evil, clichéd, and illegal music I could find. Not even the Star Wars theme song made him happy. Ernie pressed play and I backed out of the room as a maniacal smile grew on his face. What had I done?


	18. An Elven Barista

**Reveiws: **

**Gina:** i don't know if it will email you . . . an I hated the rapier scene, so it's just the after math. hope you like it anyways.

**Queen Islanzadi:** suddenly, it bocme much more likely that he might have visited . . . not that we would know. Read on.

**nightstarz:** unfortunatly, you don't get to find out until next chapter . . . or the one after that . . . but if you must know, it's the absolute most awful music Taylor could find.

**JB chick:** NO! Glorfindel is a wonderful cook . . . not quite up to Kelsey standards, but Kelsey isn't available to bake cookies. At least he doesn't burn them like I tend to do. I see you are a PotC fan . . . i have a vague feeling I meant to do somemthing with Pirates . . . hmm . . .

**Chapter 18**

An Elven Barista (b/c I can't think of a more amusing title.)

**Meagan's PoV**

I finally cleared myself past the umbrella, falling out of Penelope's car and squishing a few little green worms in the process. I looked around for someone to attack and was disappointed to see Penelope and Sauron tramping through little piles of ask and away from the wreckage of Scott's car . . . or what was left of it. Gina walked a few feet behind them, the tip of her sword dragging behind her bloody sneaker. She looked up, noticing me staring, smiled a moment and promptly fell over. Sauron turned and caught her while Penelope carefully confiscated the sword.

"What happened?" I asked, "Did Gina stab herself? Don't be suicidal, Gina."

She shook her head, "I killed him."

"Who?"

"Scott."

I glanced around, "There's no body . . ."

"It's like Lisa - how she isn't really dead." Penelope explained, "Which is disappointing."

Gina nodded vigorously.

"Don't give yourself brain damage." I admonished, "I didn't think you had it in you."

Gina glared at me, "That's because I'm a nice person. I want to go home now."

"We'll drop you off." Penelope promised, 'It's been a long weekend."

I helped Gina into the backseat while Penelope stowed away her sword and lighter.

"If it makes you feel better," Sauron said stonily, staring straight ahead in the passenger seat, "You have really nice sword work."

"Thanks" Gina coughed out, "But I don't feel bad - just . . . shocked. It shouldn't have been that easy."

"Being evil doesn't really have that many perks. Easy death and an anticlimactic defeat are often included."

"Then why become evil?" Penelope asked.

Sauron considered it, "I think it's to be your own boss, get more freedom - though no one manages it. But by the time you realize it, you're too far in to get out without a particularly strong incentive." He turned to smile at Penelope sickeningly.

Gina and I gagged purposefully.

-

The sun was setting as Penelope dropped us off at Nickel's house. Gina waved and got into her car as I walked home. Penelope was right. It had been a crazy weekend.

**Haldir's PoV**

Kelsey spent several hours trying to call Gina before she let us in her house. Legolas immediately started perusing her books until Kelsey showed him how to operate the 'TV' as she called the strange box with moving pictures.

Meanwhile, Kelsey enlisted me to help her cook dinner. We hadn't had anything since the morning's biscuits, so she made a huge meal.

"We don't have any milk or eggs or vegetables." She sighed, 'But there's some steaks in the freezer and if you'll hand me that saucepan, I can make some mushrooms in wine sauce and sauté some canned green beans with garlic for flavor . . . " She subsided into mumbling, pulling out metal cylinders of mushrooms and sauce and beans.

Legolas came into the kitchen when he smelled the wine cooking the mushrooms and was enslaves immediately to watch the steaks Kelsey had marinated and slapped on a grilled pan.

We ate in the living room, in front of the TV, which Kelsey watched avidly, switching between channels, searching for news of what could have happened to Gina, Meagan, Penelope and Sauron.

Legolas had returned to the books after volunteering to wash up and Kelsey had dozed off, leaving me to watch a grisly story about starving children in Africa . . . wherever that was, when a chiming sound reverberated through the house.

I froze, turning off the TV and listened. Legolas crept in, a finger to his lips.

"I told you no one would be home." Someone said.

"Then explain why the lights are on and the TV just went off." Responded a slightly more familiar voice.

"We can't just break into Kelsey's house!"

"She's home- it's not breaking in." The voices grew louder, clearer, "And anyways, the door is unlocked."

A grown preceded the two at the door into the living room.

Legolas and I stared, shocked.

"Hey, Haldir, Legolas." Nickel waved, "We'll just be over here until Kelsey wakes up." She sat down in one of the giant chair and to all outward appearances, went to sleep.

Glorfindel smiled wistfully, 'We just got back a few hours ago."

"What have you been doing since then?" Legolas asked.

"Well . . .Nicole took a nap in this park where she wasn't supposed to be - she got arrested and I had to drag her out of there." He shook his hair out, "It's nice to have a body back though."

Legolas and I choose to ignore that last statement.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, 'There's some vegetables and steak in the kitchen."

"Who cooked it/" Glorfindel asked."

"Kelsey."

"Sure, do you want any, dear?"

Nickel stretched out, "I'm fine, but check if she has any cookies in the pantry."

"I heard that." Kelsey sat up, "don't give her any cookies, Glorfindel!"

Nickel stuck her tongue out, "ready to go back to my place?"

"Do you have a car?"

"No."

"Then how to you propose we get there?"

Nickel tilted her head. "Teleportation?"

Kelsey rolled her head back, "I'll pass then. Call a taxi in the morning."

"Did Mandy go home?'

"Yeah, her mom called. She texted me a couple hours ago - she's grounded for disappearing yesterday."

"Ouch. Alors, c'est la vie."

I collapsed onto the sofa next to Kelsey.

**Nickel's PoV**

Over the nest week, Kelsey and I acquainted Haldir and Legolas with modern life. We couldn't do anything about Morgoth, as he did not attack again. Sauron moved in on Penelope's couch and enrolled in summer courses at the local community college. The elves were disbelieving at best when they learned to nature of these courses - Sauron was studying theology.

"He's a disposed evil over lord!" Legolas exploded, "Why is he studying religion?"

"Several reasons." I calmed him, "One, we have several hundred different religious groups throughout the world; two, it is interesting; and three, if you knew your history, you would remember that Sauron created a religion so it's a matter of interest for him."

Legolas grumbled.

We didn't hear from Mandy for the whole week - until Kelsey's parent came home and we couldn't all hang out. Both Kelsey and Mandy threw themselves into college preparations, little believing that this fragile peace would end. Since neither Kelsey nor Mandy would host an elf in their house, I took it upon myself to produce job applications for Haldir and Legolas and kicked them out of my house after their first paycheck came in. They were soon living in a tiny motel room down the road and were the proud owners of a bicycle - though I still had to help feed them. Kelsey contributed in that regard. Haldir worked as a barista at Starbucks by day and a waiter in the evenings. Meanwhile, Legolas worked door to door sales of children's books (need I say he did rather well at this) and ran an internet business form the library.

As summer drew to a close, I considered Glorfindel and I's options. Of course, that was when Morgoth struck again. It was August and it had benefited Morgoth to wait.

**A/N**

ooh . . .what will happen? I acctually know this time! yay! Anyways, in two or three chapters, the major plot (Morgoth) will end and the rest will be fun epilogue type chapters (as in, there will probably be five of those . . . or more. . . ) I hope to finsh soon, not b/c I want this fic to be over, but I want to wirte some more Silmarilion based fics including my plan of writing an abridged, easy to understand "History of Arda for Dummies"

So keep reveiwing, I welcome all of your suggestions, no matter how crazy (except morally unstable sugestiong though thankfully I havn't gotten any of those) even if I don't use it. Think about where you want to see these characters in ten years. . . . I'm getting some weird images there.

Thanks a bundle, Nickel


	19. Identity Crisis

**Reveiws:**

**Meagan:** What do you mean, trying to ruin your birthday? I don't follow.

**nightstarz:** it's doubt btw. Very intriuging. There are in fact, ony a few characters with unknown futures, though a few are open to discussion . . .

**Queen Islanzadi:** It's not over yet. I check out the Tours story, yours is up.

**JB chick:** Not exazctly what I had in mind .. .read on.

**MBDTA/Mandy:** It's nice that you've finally decide to honor us with your presence. Are you going to continue the Sues story or can I take it down? I might be able to come, after five o'clock. No, it's pretty close to being wrapped up.

**Gina: **that's a good way to put it.

**AN: **Well, this is the chapter where you guys learn about Leanne/Narillë (asuming you know who she is) Check out our poll on the bio page about this story - only one person has said anything, and I have a feeling it was Mandy. Read, Reveiw, etc.

**Chapter 19**

Identity Crisis

The Louisiana Renaissance Festival, August 5th

**Legolas's PoV**

I rolled down the window of Nickel's truck, enjoying the breeze. Nickel had decided to take Glorfindel, Haldir and me to some sort of historical festival. She seemed to think it was amusing for some reason.

Kelsey and Mandy were meeting us at the festival - a two week affair with campgrounds and nightly fireworks. The two were working as characters all week.

I'd seen Mandy only once or twice since she'd left us on Kelsey's doorstep and was excited to see her again.

"You know, Legolas, I think you've become a pretty decent person this summer." Nicole said thoughtfully.

"Reminiscing?" I asked.

"No, I'm glad I don't regret finding you a job."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Well . . . made you get a job. It's good for you."

"And you get Haldir to make you coffee."

She shrugged, "Actually, I've taken to the tea."

Glorfindel sat with Haldir in the back bench of Nickel's truck, playing cards and forcing me into shotgun.

"I'd have put you down for the espresso type." Months with a workaholic like Haldir had taught me coffee lingo. More importantly, I'd developed a relative immunity to the caffeine - though I still didn't drink anything with the full caffeine.

"I like the chocolate covered beans, but coffee in general is too . . . cloying. And energizing, could you imagine me with coffee in my system of a regular basis?"

"No. The armies of Morgoth are easier to comprehend."

"Well, yeah, you've seen them."

"I meant when he was fully in power."

"That was a scary time."

"Really?"

"No." she said sarcastically "Having your home city destroyed and the love of your live - not to mention the totally awesome in-laws - killed by balrogs and dragons and orcs is very soothing."

I patted Nickel's arm awkwardly.

"I'm fine - I only know this from history books and vague memories."

"Did you have any children?" I asked.

Her face crumpled, 'I have no idea."

I twisted in my seat, "Glorfindel?"

"Yes, Legoals?"

"Did you and Nickel have any children in Gondolin?"

Glorfindel cocked his head thoughtfully, "We had the most beautiful little girl." He said wistfully, "I don't know if she survived, but she was with Idril and Tuor so she must have . . . Earendil and Narillë were always causing trouble among the other children - her fault I think."

Nicole slammed on the brakes, throwing us forward. "WHAT!" She shrieked.

Since none of us could drive, we were forced to wait until Nickel had composed herself and set the radio to the deafening blare of the classical music station.

"Go fish." Haldir said to Glorfindel.

Nickel heaved a dry sob.

I stared straight ahead and prayed desperately that we would be there soon.

**Mandy's PoV**

I ran forward as Nickel's truck pulled into the campground. She slowed down enough for me to cram onto the front bench with Legolas - I was surprised he had shotgun. Nickel's face was blotchy and all the elves look uncomfortable - especially Legolas.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We've been discussing history." Haldir said blandly, 'And I beat Glorfindel at Go Fish."

I looked back and forth between Nickel and Legolas, 'Is there something you guys aren't telling me?"

The car got very quiet.

"Is Kelsey any good a Go Fish?" Haldir asked.

**Glorfindel's PoV**

As soon as Nickel had parked and everyone had gotten out, I pulled her close to me, "Are you angry?"

"More disappointed with myself. I thought I would remember - that I would know!"

"Shh . . .I didn't know until I spoke with Elrond - she's not in any history book, but his father told him - after you left Rivendell."

"But I'm her mother!" Nickel choked out, "I'm supposed to remember. What if she hates me? Or I can't find her?" She started to panic, clutching my arms and twisting around.

"Don't think about that now." I said gently, "calm, down."

Nickel inhaled and exhaled slowly.

"That's it, dear."

**Kelsey' PoV**

I skipped gleefully around our dorm, gathering costumes for our elves. A knock preceded Mandy, Legolas, and Haldir inside.

"Hello!" I sang, "Put these on."

Mandy helped Legolas into his costume, as I pinned back Haldir's hair under a red bandanna.

"Do I have to wear this?" He asked, dangling an eye patch from one finger.

"No" I said quickly, coloring slightly, "It's not necessary." I pulled at his sleeves a bit, finishing the pirate ensemble, "Perfect."

"You know, Erestor would make a better pirate." Glorfindel helped Nickel inside.

"Is he the elf that looks like Johnny Depp?" Mandy asked.

"Who?"

Nickel whispered something in his ear.

"Oh, yeah, he is."

"What's Legolas?" Nicole craned her neck, trying to see past Haldir and me.

"Well . . . don't be too shocked." I cautioned, "Mandy got creative."

Legolas stepped out from behind our bunk. Nicole's jaw dropped.

"Don't you need to change?" I asked hurriedly.

Nickel shook her head. It wasn't a refusal, but rather like she was trying to clear her mind, "Wow."

"What am I?" Legoals asked.

Mandy beamed, "You are the most wonderful centaur ever!"

Glorfindel choked back a cough, "We'll go change now." and dragged Nickel past us.

Nickel and Glorfindel were significantly more normally garbed as an Elf (Glorfindel) and fairy (Nickel) with six foot wings that glistened and moved.

"How did you fit those in your bag?" Mandy asked.

"She grew them." Glorfindel said, "It was . . . illuminating. You know, they glow?"

Mandy and I wore our issued renaissance costumes.

"Who do you think will win the costume contest?" Mandy asked, "I bet Legolas - we did great with that costume."

"I'm thinking Nickel." I said, "Those wings are amazing."

"What's the theme?" Nickel asked.

"Mythical creatures."

"We should have made you a Balrog, Glorfindel."

Glorfindel scowled, "I loath Balrogs."

"Vile things." Legolas added.

"Did you know that Balrogs were spirits - like Maiar - that Morgoth corrupted?" Nickel announced, "Just knowledge for kicks,"

"That's fascinating." Legolas eyed Mandy like she might burst into flames at any moment.

"It's kind of like how orcs are tortured elves and dragons can fly because Morgoth ripped off the eagle's wings."

"Lovely." Haldir choked out.

I gave Nickel a taste of my Galadriel eyes, "Be nice."

"What? It is fascinating."

"I'll just be going to my station." I hedged, "Admission is free since you have costumes." I dragged Mandy outside, "Nickel is insane."

"Is it a good idea to leave her with Legolas?" Mandy asked.

"She drove him up here."

"Yeah . . . but he wasn't a half dressed horse then."

"Point."

**Nickel's PoV**

Legolas scowled at us, "Don't say a word."

"That would hurt Mandy's feeling." I told him, "Though I really do wonder what she was thinking. You're going to be attacked . . . or at least photographed." I circled him, "Can you even walk in that thing?"

"I can barely stand."

"Hmm . . ." I tapped the hindquarters of Legolas's costume, "Glorfindel, could you help me with this?"

"What are you going to do?" Legolas asked nervously.

The horse part of the costume consists of a pair of pants - the front legs - and a foam and fabric body which," I tugged and pushed it a bit, "comes off over your head. If we take that off and manipulate the hooves on your pants, you can be a faun instead."

"Can I wear a shirt?" Legoals asked.

"No, but I'll get you a scarf or something." Glorfindel helped me lift the foam frame and Legoals ducked out, "How would you like a trench coat?" I asked, "Feet."

Legolas held up one foot at a time and I used safety pins to cleave the hooves.

"Now, walk on the balls of your feet and bend your knees." I instructed, "Think goat legs."

"At least a horse has some dignity." Haldir pointed out.

"Except Legolas was closer to a horse with a broken back." I borrowed a black coat that had probably been intended for Haldir's costume and draped it over Legolas, adjusting it slightly, "There you go."

"Let's go now." Haldir said impatiently, "Kelsey was saying it was like going back to Middle Earth in a convoluted kind of way. I want to see what she means."

I laughed, "I suppose that's one way of putting it. Onward then."


	20. Death Doom and Deeeeestruction

**Holy cow it's been awhile since we've posted anything! I apologize to every one of our devoted readers...time has just flown! However, we refuse to leave you hanging. We are finishing this story, dang it!**

**Anyhoo, hope you enjoy! There are just a couple more chapters left, now that our writer's block is gone! :D**

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Chapter 20

Death Doom and Destruction!

Ernie's POV

My fist connected with the table, upsetting the coffee I'd been drinking. Tomato, who'd been grinning at the flame emitted from the lighter, stood at attention in a blink.

"We leave in an hour after them," I ordered. "They can no longer escape—we must attack while they remain together. And clean up this mess!"

Taylor appeared at my side with a towel and Tomato saluted before bowing his way out of the room.

"Silly gits," I muttered, standing. "It shouldn't take this long to destroy a few females and some elves."

Beneath me, Taylor said nothing and continued to clean the coffee. Good man.

"Prepare the troops."

Mandy's POV

"Nicole, you have to admit, this is just strange," I whispered, leaning against the wall of a shop. Around the corner, the others were roaming a maze for children made of colored bedsheets hung up. So far we could hear their dismay and Kelsey's laughter as they lost themselves time and time again. "I mean, the summer's almost over. Morgoth hasn't tried anything…I honestly expected him to start picking us off one by one by now."

Nicole stretched out her legs underneath a colored, gypsy-like skirt, her head cocked to the side, frowning.

"Yes, it's strange. But I can't foresee anything happening, before you ask. When I knew he escaped in your car…that was just knowing what was going on at the present time. The future's still a mystery." Suddenly, Nicole bit her lip. "Mandy…is it wrong I didn't know I had a kid?"

"WHAT?" I shrieked, grabbing at her shoulders. "That moron Glorfindel got you pregnant?"

People were looking. I didn't care.

"Would you keep your voice down? It just so happens we are married, so having a kid wouldn't be so bad, but…I can't remember her. It was ages ago, another life ago I suppose. Do you think she remembers me?"

I leaned back again, shaking my head incredulously. "Honestly? I can't say."

Nicole sighed and pulled her phone out from a purse with a long strap, checking the screen intently. "Penelope was supposed to meet us here. Maybe there was traffic. She can't drive if there's too much."

"Remind me again how someone like her even got a license?"

Nicole cuffed me on the side of my head. "Mandy, she's just as sane as either of us. Don't be mean!"

I rolled my eyes as Kelsey appeared with the men, Glorfindel carrying several turkey legs.

"Sorry, that took a lot longer than I thought it would," Kelsey explained as Glorfindel handed out the food. Haldir eyed his suspiciously. "It's just meat, dear," She reassured him.

I peeked over Nicole's shoulder at her phone. "Oh, shoot, Kelsey! We were supposed to be at the front gate five minutes ago!"

Kelsey scowled, adorably of course, as Haldir pecked her on the cheek. "Don't worry, love, we'll find you once your shift is over."

She beamed up at him. I glanced at Legolas. The sad part was I hadn't even gotten a hug yet…and after all this time he still looked great shirtless.

"See y'all later," I smiled at him pointedly as Kelsey grabbed my hand and we darted through a crowd of people wearing only chain mail. The Renaissance Festival really kept us on our toes.

**Nicole's POV**

I looked around at my charges. They looked at me expectantly.

"So…"

My phone buzzed in my hand once, then twice. I answered it. "Hello?"

"Nicole! You've got to help me!" Penelope's voice crackled on the static connection hysterically, something I'd come to expect as normal for her. "Sauron's gone! And there's fire—fire everywhere! Nicole—"

The line went dead.

**Penelope's POV**

(Earlier that day)

I rolled over to see Sauron asleep on my couch, blinking sleep out of my eyes. For the hundredth time I thanked Zeus my mother didn't notice the man sleeping in my room. He was quite fun to watch. I didn't understand the others thought he was so creepy. On the contrary, he was completely devoid of specters or spirits or other things that can inhabit a person, so he was completely ordinary. And completely mine.

Now I say mine. That's because he is. No touchy. Mine.

And he actually looked relatively cute when he slept, like he was dreaming of taking back Mordor and making it an eco-friendly environment. I respected that.

But unfortunately, I couldn't sit and watch him. There were places to go and people to see.

I rolled out of my bed dreamily, arching gracefully as my toes touched the floor in a stretch. It was very relaxing and I could feel the cricks disappearing immediately.

I leaned over Sauron, prodding him with a finger. He grumbled in his sleep.

"Rise and shine! We need to leave to meet up with the others!" He opened one eye, then the next and glanced at the clock.

"It's 4:30 in the morning," he retorted. "We have time."

"Not if you want breakfast. You can always sleep in the car!" I sang, dancing into my closet and pulling out various skirts and tops before settling on a long, flower-patterned skirt with a shawl draping over my camisole. Then I grabbed a pointed purple wizard's hat and jammed it on my head. Perfect.

It took Sauron some time to get up, by which time I had a marvelous breakfast of poptarts ready for eating. With the tarts in hand, we crammed into my car and drove off, Sauron's chair leaned back as he tried to sleep.

I popped in a CD of classical music and turned it low, humming along as we headed off down the highway. We actually did have plenty of time to get there—contrary to Mandy's belief, I actually do not drive like a maniac. I only drive over the speed limit because it is necessary. I just didn't want to run into traffic. Cars could someday turn on us, and I for one didn't want to be in the middle of a car-infested traffic jam when they did.

Sauron grumbled again, mumbling something about Hinduism. He definitely needed a break from theology classes.

Light suddenly burst in front of us. Not the angelic, holy kind of light. Like orange, hot fire kind of light. I slammed on the brakes, thankful once again that no one else was sane enough to drive this early in the morning behind me. Sauron flew forward, his seatbelt jerking him back into the seat.

"Penelope, what—" I put my finger to my lips. The fire encircled us, but stayed in a perfect circle a few yards out from the car. I put the car in 'Park' before turning off the ignition. Someone was moving out there. I could feel his presence in my mind.

Cautiously, I stepped out of my car. Sauron followed, and seemed to sense someone was out there too. "Speak to me, spirit…or man! I mean no harm!"

Fire was hot. I was much too warm in my shawl, but I ignored it as I closed my eyes. I could see him—a shadowed figure hovering around the edges of the circle drifted in my mind.

"Get back in the car, girl," A voice ordered. "Master only wants me to come for the betraying moron."

Next to me, Sauron stiffened, then grimaced.

"Get in the car, Penelope," He ordered, moving to stand in front of me. I stayed put, looking up at him with my head cocked to the side.

"Sauron—"

"NOW!" He bellowed, turning to face me. He looked a little frightened, which made me frightened. He leaned down and kissed me swiftly, forcefully. "He has a Ring of Power. Get in the car."

Even though the fact that he had a Ring should have sent me running, in an absurd, thoughtless motion I grabbed his arms. "I won't leave you. Maybe he can be reasoned with…"

Sauron looked at me irritably, then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder in one fluid motion. I kicked him, but the guy's abs were rock solid. He ignored my protests and set me in my car, then kissed me again before shutting the door.

His lips moved as he spoke, then in a blink he burst into flames.

As quickly as the fire appeared, it was gone. The sun was just rising. And I was alone in my car.

**Kelsey's POV**

"Hello, little girl!" I hear Mandy say to a girl dressed as Cinderella, speaking with a British accent. "My, aren't you a pretty little thing? Do enjoy your time at the fair!"

A fat man shoved cash into my hand and snatched the program with the day's events from me. Sometimes I wondered if it was worth being able to dress up to work here.

A small boy dressed in a dinosaur costume with wings on the back dimpled up at me while holding out three dollars. I handed him the program and smiled as the dragon skipped back to his parents. Definitely worth it.

"Kelsey!" I turned, frowning to see Nicole running as me at full speed. She skidded to a stop, throwing mud on my skirts.

"What? Did Glorfindel get into the jousting ring?"

She waved her hand dismissively, panting as the other caught up to her. "No, no, Penelope called! Something's wrong."

"What do you mean by wrong?"

"She said something about fire and Sauron being good, neither which bode well."

"What?" I stared, frowning.

"Which means we have a bigger problem," Mandy stated, appearing beside me, accent gone. "Fire? Sauron gone? That had to be Tomato. Morgoth's back, can't you see?"

Nicole paled visibly. "No, that can't be…what in Illuvatar's name would he use for his army? He used worms…_worms_…last time! He's running out of options!"

In the distance, a rhythmic pounding echoed in the woods and trumpets sounded.

"Mommy, mommy! The parade's starting!" A little girl cheered. I frowned, grabbing a program.

"That can't be right! It's only 10:30. The parade isn't scheduled to start until 12!"

"I'm pretty sure that isn't the parade." Nicole made a motion towards her waist, then looked down. "Shoot! Did we even think of carrying weapons?"

**Nicole's POV**

"So you're telling me that the greatest war in history is about to take place in a Renaissance Festival?" Mandy demanded as she ran after me. "And against band people?"

"Actually, I think it may be more that band," Kelsey panted, dragging Haldir after her. "I definitely heard some strings…"

I nodded as we skidded to a stop outside the weapons shop. "His forces have grown," I replied grimly.

"That is probably the biggest understatement of the century."

"Pastrami, hush."

The wonderful thing about these festivals is not the half-naked men in chain mail (as Mandy would say) or the fashions (as Kelsey might), but in the amount of sharp swords and other weapons that are forged here. Unfortunately, there was no real wizard staff for me, so I contented myself with examining a broadsword while Kelsey dove greedily at…well, anything.

"Mandy, put that down."

"Why?" She demanded, holding a huge sword that was obviously too heavy for her. "I'd go into an obnoxious speech saying how I need to fight, but that's just annoying."

I sighed, but before I could say anything Legolas handed her a lighter sword.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He raised one back.

Mandy beamed.

The clerk who owned the store approached Kelsey.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be working?" He asked, leaning against a wall as she examined an axe.

"Maybe." She picked up a dagger, eyeing it.

"I didn't know you knew anything about swords," He commented flirtatiously. I rolled my eyes.

"She's taken," I informed him, turning a sword on him. He backed up. "Thank you."

The drums were getting louder. Glorfindel grabbed my hand.

"Do we have to pay for these?"

**Mandy's POV**

I must have a secret suicide wish.

There was no way anything dealing with fighting other than the word 'sword' was in my knowledge, yet sword in hand I was preparing to fight an impossibly large force.

Legolas stood beside me, a hand on my shoulder. It wasn't much, but it was something.

"I'm scared," I confided, turning the blade over in my hands. "Ow!"

"I'd be worried you'd been possessed if you weren't."

I looked back at him. "Did you just make a joke?"

"It's been known to happen."

I smiled at him. "You've changed since you got here, you know. For the better, of course. I just wish we'd had more time."

He kissed my fingertips. "You've changed too, you know. You've…you've grown up." He smiled brilliantly. "And we will have time."

I threw my arms around his neck, the sword clattering to the floor as I hugged him tightly. He held me close to him, nothing more. When we pulled apart he frowned and brushed something from my cheek.

"Don't cry," He murmured. Oh.

I rubbed my eyes and made a face, wrinkling my nose.

"I'm fine," I promised as he kissed my forehead.

A high-pitched scream made me jump, and the store clerk leapt behind the counter. Kelsey slammed a $20 or two on the register and ran out the door. With one swift kiss we followed.

"Shoot."


	21. The End of All Things

**Anonymous Authoress--YAY! Have a cookie, we missed you!! It's been crazy, but we're so happy to be back! Especially with only a few chapters left...it was like, we gotta finish this...**

**Locked in a Stony Tower--I know what you mean, I've been rereading stuff over and over...such deja vu, all of it. But I'm glad you like the band geeks and orca-dorks. Us writers and theater people are often shunted aside by them...so it's too much fun to be mean sometimes and make them the bad guys :P**

**Gina--Nicole is very disappointed there was no physical review, but whatever she did to you because you didn't review to her I had NO part in.**

**A/N: We missed you guys too. It's been a couple of years I think . . . anyways, Mandi and i realized that since we were this close, we owed it to you guys to finish the story. There's not much left - one chapter and a couple extra goodies after this. (I think it was a year and a half...someone correct me on this... --Mandy)**

**Anyhoo, Mandy wants to say that she will continue writing other stuff with the MBDTA and hopes Nicole will too....even if it is just to get over writing blocks. Love you!**

**DISCLAIMER: After all this time, we still do not own it. After all this time, I am still sad. And after all this time, I finally got Legolas stuffed into my closet! :D**

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**Chapter 21: ****The End of All Things**

**Penelope's POV**

Keep driving…keep driving…keep breathing…

Nicole told me to get here as fast as possible. I'm not entirely sure how she expected me to do so in my present state of mind, but thankfully there is such a thing as auto-pilot as my actual thinking brain took over.

My heart, however, felt squeezed. It was painful to breathe, and I felt as though the spirits were trying to pull me out of physical form. Which I wanted to gladly let them do.

The signs to the festival announced I would be arriving shortly, but already I could hear screaming and war cries. Cars raced out of the entranceway—one giant Ford almost running over my baby bug. The bright, triangular flags around the entranceway were turning black from fire. I cringed at the sight of the flames but parked my car and grabbed my rapier from the backseat. I figured I might need it.

As I ran through the entry arch, I found giant, muscled men in chain mail wrestling teenage boys in band uniforms to the ground, instruments forgotten. Yet band kids still marched on in perfect rhythm, past screaming shopkeepers and people running towards the exit.

Then I saw him.

Hooded in a black sweatshirt and jeans, a boy with a lighter threw balls of fire at buildings, laughing maliciously. It was the same presence in my mind from earlier.

"FIEND!" I shrieked, pulling the blade from its sheath. The boy turned, and a Ring of Power glinted in the sun, spouting flames. He grinned, and with a lazy flick of his ring finger sent fire blazing towards me.

I dodged, but more flew at me as I ran at him, and my skirt caught fire. I froze.

"That. Was. My. Favorite. SKIRT!" I screamed, rushing at him. Now he looked scared.

I swung my sword, and he howled as a huge gash appeared in his arm. I swung again, and his sweatshirt ripped along his stomach. I lunged.

**Kelsey's PoV**

"FIEND!" I whirled around to see a person swathed in cloth with a pointed wizard's hat running at a hooded figure. Penelope.

Suddenly a large figure materialized on top of a wild-eyed cello player. It sighed.

"You'd think she'd realize that most of us have a way of returning from death in the void," Sauron shook his head.

Nicole launched herself at him, despite the fact that others were surrounding us. "You moron! You two-faced, son of a—"

"Nicole!" I warned, whacking a tuba player on the head.

"GUN!" She finished, grinning at me with very white teeth.

"What?" Sauron looked startled. "I thought the plan was to let ourselves get killed to annoy Morgoth?"

Nicole smacked her head and waved her sword at a girl who was waving her paintbrushes at her menacingly. "Back! Back, I say!"

"You know, maybe you should have died earlier," Glorfindel commented thoughtfully as he dueled a boy dressed as Harry Potter. "This pent-up rage she's letting out is sure helping."

"That. Was. My. Favorite. SKIRT!" Penelope's screams echoed, and she promptly hacked the hooded boy to pieces.

"Did you know she could fight?" I asked Nicole faintly.

"No, but you can't deny that it helps."

**Ernie's POV**

"NO!" I howled in agony from atop my horse as Tomato fell to the psychic. "Taylor, finish them!"

Taylor looked up at me, his face pale and looking as though he would argue.

"NOW!" I bellowed. He grimaced and straightened his shoulders, raising his trumpet before leading the next attack of muscled, football men. I heard myself screaming again as Taylor fell at that traitor Sauron's feet.

Enraged, I dismounted, drawing my sword as it glowed red, flames licking up and down the metal. I started down the hill. These metal shoes were killing me, but they were protective. The others were getting weary—FOOLS! As if they could take the full strength of my forces.

Mandy would first be dealt with, the elves following. Then I would focus on Sauron and Kelsey before defeating the strongest of the Maiar. I laughed out loud. This would be too easy.

I could feel myself growing taller as I approached. Nothing could stop me.

The three girls faced me, their men focused on my army. Ok, so they might die out of order. As long as they died I would be happy. I raised my sword, and with a swipe Mandy was gone.

The others were pale and tight-lipped but held their swords that may as well have been made out of wood at me.

I laughed again and swung my sword, and Kelsey was gone.

I advanced on Nicole.

"Who's the prisoner now?" I sneered with another laugh (my evil laugh was getting quite good). "Prisoner indeed, since I'm about to be rid of you all!"

But before I could kill her…

POP!

Mandy appeared, paler but jaw taut. I frowned and lunged at her with my sword. She disappeared, and...

POP!

Kelsey reappeared. Then—

POP!

—Mandy reappeared. I killed them both.

POP!

POP!

They both returned, grinning.

"WHY WON'T ANY OF YOU STAY DEAD?" I shrieked, plunging my sword into all three of them.

Laughing, Nicole disappeared, only to—

POP!

—Reappear again.

POP!

POP!

Mandy and Kelsey laughed too.

I hated it.

**Nicole's POV**

The only problems with him killing us repeatedly was that Mandos was getting irritated by our popping back and forth between realms and that we weren't actually stopping Morgoth—just stalling.

So the next moment I appeared in Mandos's hall I confronted him, fully aware that I was only a floating speck.

"Mandos, we need help. We can't kill our charge, but he must stop!"

Mandos scowled at me, rubbing his temples. "You are his guardian. You must imprison him. That is your purpose in life."

I glared, and saw my speck grow larger in his eyes. "I know that! We can't just place him in another void! Look at what has happened!"

Mandos drank his tea as—

POP!

POP!

—Mandy and Kelsey appeared then—

POP!

POP!

—disappeared.

"Create another void with stronger bindings," He suggested. "You have to control him. Perhaps put him in a smaller one this time."

I stuck my figurative tongue at him, made a rude noise, and POP!

Mandy and Kelsey had gotten more creative, popping beside Morgoth and on his shoulders as he screamed with rage and chased them around the fair grounds. Looking at him, I couldn't believe it was Ernie. He had no face, only the red eyes were discernable in the darkness that made up his features. His black armor covered his body, which had swelled to an enormous size. It was kinda disturbing.

I gave chase so to speak until I came to a knot of Band nerds. I soon was surrounded and once more was fighting for my life.

Which is okay is you like that sort of thing.

I blasted the last band nerd out of the way and turned to see . . . no one. Except Mandy.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

Mandy looked around too, "Hey! Where's Legolas?"

"Je vais detruire Morgoth maintentant." I fumed.

"Erm, uh, Nicole, could you not speak French when I have a splitting headache?" Mandy asked, clutching her head.

"This is the last time, Morgoth!" I called loudly to the skies, "Get your sorry self over here!"

"What do you want, Nickel?" Morgoth stood next to Mandy, his hands open before him, "Do you want to destroy me? The first strike is yours."

I knew this trick; he wasn't going to get me like this.

"How about you just give up." I suggested.

"While I'm ahead? No, Nicole, I believe it is you who should give up. You know my conditions."

"Then why am I still here?" I glared at him, "You and your deal can go back into the void."

"We have conquered the void, Nicole. It will hold us no longer, a fact you are well aware of. Give up your imagined ties to the void and return to Middle Earth in your full glory!"

"And be a slave?"

"Is that what you would have me do? Be a slave in heaven? That is what I was."

"Better to be the ruler of the dark than a slave to the light." I whispered.

"Yes. And my conditions are little to you."

"What is he talking about, Nicole?" Mandy asked me, "Whatever it is, he's wrong."

"Silence." Morgoth told her.

Mandy opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

"And you called yourself an American?" I asked Ernie, the bit of him that was left.

"No, I have always called myself a Cuban."

"Point . . ."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Give in to my demands or suffer, my patience grows thin!" The booming voice of Morgoth burst through Ernie.

"The void must have done something to you." I commented, stalling for time, "You never had patience before, Morgoth."

"ANSWER ME!"

"Melkor, my child, why do you persist in this?"

We looked up. (I mean, come on, where else do disembodied voices come from?)

"You were once the most gifted of my children, influential and strong, the voice that shaped the earth. What made you change?"

"Eru, Melkor wouldn't let me talk!" Mandy yelled. She looked around, surprised, "Hey, I can talk now."

"I will forgive you, Melkor, if you relinquish your desire for Ea itself."

Melkor screamed like a child, "You don't care for the void, you just want to fill it! Where have the empty things gone?"

"Come." The strength of that order made me fall over. When I looked up, Morgoth, Melkor, Ernie, was gone.

**Nickel's PoV**

"Well that was rather easy." I got up, and dusted myself off, "Let's go."

"What about Legolas, and Kelsey and-"

Mandy was interrupted by a loud, very audible, POP!

"AMANDA!" Kelsey, Legolas and Haldir, all jumped Mandy as I sidled away to where Glorfindel stood.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Morgoth . . . went away."

"Went away?" His eyebrows shot up skeptically.

"Yeah . . . we'll go with that – I promise he won't be a problem anymore."

"Then I will have to be content with that." He whispered as the others surrounded us.

"Let's go home, Nicole." Mandy sighed, I want to say goodbye to my family at least."

I turned to Glorfindel, "How will they understand, Glor?" I whispered, "Their home is gone."

"_Met man mela echa fear ener ar iluver._"* Glorfindel whispered to me, "I don't think I will stay here with you." He turned and walked down the hallway.

I turned back to my friends nervously, "You see, when we were last in Middle Earth, I . . . I talked with Gandalf about some things. Some important things. After all, it doesn't make sense that there would be anything in the void – that's why it's called the void." I gulped. My throat felt dry, and everyone was staring at me expectantly. "As it is, we were living in a world of Morgoth's . . . thoughts. Mandy, Kelsey and I know this place as 'Earth'."

"WHAT?" Kelsey yelped, falling over for the first time I'd ever known. "We've been living in a…a…_thought_ of Ernie's? Do you know how creepy that sounds?"

"But what about the people on Earth?" Mandy whispered. "What about…what about Isaac?" Legolas gave her an odd look at this comment, but she didn't notice as she watched me.

"Depends on who you're talking about." I replied, cautiously "Some, like our friends - Meagan, Gina, and the others we've seen in Middle Earth - are something from the First Age - sort of . . . reincarnations by becoming thoughts . . ."

"You mean," Haldir tried to clarify. "Morgoth thought of them, and they became real, to some extent?"

"Exactly - or they are something else that fell into the void."

"I bet Scott is a giant cockroach." Mandy muttered.

"Then what about us?" Kelsey asked. "Are we…thoughts?"

"No," I took another deep breath. "We were on the edge of the world to watch Morgoth. Morgoth tried to return, and we were captured in the void. The void became Morgoth's world, Earth, after he gave up on returning to Arda. We were already there, so the people we became, Mandy, Nickel and Kelsey, were people Morgoth likened us to. The void cracked, in a matter of speaking, for some unknown reason. That's what sent us to Middle Earth, as well as the ghostly reincarnations."

"And Isaac?" Mandy pressed on, her face white.

"Morgoth's thoughts got out of control, so they began to take on lives of their own. But Jacob and Isaac . . . well, have you ever noticed how similar they were to Haldir and Legolas – in the way Ernie would see it."

"Oh my-"

"Do not say God's name in vain, Amanda." Kelsey parroted

"No, Kelsey, I mean it. Oh my God! That's what you were talking about, Nickel, the night we arrived!"

"So Jacob and Isaac are . . . were Haldir and Legolas?"

"To a certain extent." I answered Kelsey.

"Wait a minute!" Mandy interrupted, "Morgoth said something to Eru; he said he missed the empty spaces and Eru was filling them."

I froze, "For once, Mandy, I think you're right – perhaps Eru made more than just Arda, and we wandered in to this other place."

"Let's go then." Kelsey demanded.

"But we can't." I told her. "I don't know how to go there."

"What do you mean?" She asked, "You got us home before."

"It's different when you realize what the world is." I told her, "Though I'm pretty sure Morgoth bent Earth like he tried to do with Arda. It probably isn't the same."

"I guess we'll just stay in Arda then." Kelsey sighed, "At least there is someone here that I love."

I grinned, "There is always someone to love, Kelsey."

**Mandy's PoV**

As a freshman, I remember waking up one morning feeling completely lost. I think it had something to do with studying until 4:00 in the morning, but I couldn't remember a thing. When I got to school, I went to 5 out of 7 wrong classes and then ended up with ISS for the next day for wandering around the halls.

When I woke up after the long speech from Nickel, I felt the exact same way. It was early in the morning, not yet dawn. I rolled off the bed, quite literally, and walked unsteadily towards the washroom.

Soon, I was able to submerge myself in hot water. I honestly didn't know what to do. I was lost; I needed someone to tell me what to do. Should I be this confused?

A knock sounded on the door.

"Just a minute!" I called, hurriedly pulling on a robe.

Beyond the door was Legolas.

"I just want you to know," Legolas hesitated briefly. "I love you, and if that is not enough just know that this is your home. It has been your creation, in case you didn't know."

I looked up at him, frowning, "What do you mean?"

Legolas came in and sat down, my hands in his, "The Ainor sung the whole world into existence, conducted by Illuvatar in the most glorious of songs. And many of them fell in love with its beauty and wildness . . ."

**Nickel's PoV**

"Did they take it well?"

"You're a bit of a coward, aren't you?" I asked, Glorfindel, smiling.

"I don't have the ability to turn an attacking vase into a pillow."

"You could have been supportive."

"For when you collapse in exasperation?"

"No, for when the vases start attacking."

"Ahh."

* * *

After Melkor's Destruction, several things happened, firstly, every one of our friends who had ever shown up in Middle Earth returned, rather confused, but alright. Within the first week of his appearance, Scott was murdered by a gang of masked people whom I'm pretty sure included Legolas, Gina, and Meagan - led by Amanda. Lisa returned to Lothlorien and established her own little Kingdom convinced she was better than Galadriel at the whole "Lady of the Golden Wood" thing. She eventually sailed West and from what I've heard, became best buds with Galadriel and the two of them would hold "Guess which one is Galadriel" parties.

Kelsey spent six months planning her wedding. Finally, Haldir and I decided that Kelsey needed to relax, so we tossed her onto another flying carpet and Haldir carried her off in a very Vegas style wedding. When she and Haldir came back, she still had her fancy wedding though. It was at the reception that Legolas officially proposed to Mandy. Glorfindel and I had front row seats – we were dancing next to them when he asked her – rather loudly, to. Mandy burst into tears and kissed him. The location of their wedding was difficult to determine (Mandy insisted on having as big - if not, bigger - wedding than Kelsey) – with the elves, or in Minas Tirith with all their other friends? They didn't want to make guests travel too much, but wanted everyone to be there. It was Gimli who – surprisingly – came up with a solution. He's not as dumb as he seems. So Eomer was forced to host a wedding party at the Glittering caves – a pretty place that was large enough and in a suitable location.

Aragorn quickly grew tired of Tomato, Paco, Katie and Taylor's attempts to set the citadel on fire and attempted to send them on an expedition led by Meagan to interact with the Dragons of the North. Of course, this was met with vehement opposition by the rest of us, though Aragorn was bound to have his way eventually.

* * *

*We who love make spirits one and whole again

* * *

**Well that's it for _There and Back . . . Again_! Those of you who reveiwed - thank you thank you, review again and we shall give you . . . .da dum da dum!!!!!! . . . .well i can't tell you. but in about a week or so (when everyone's gotten around to reveiwing ;) - you know you wanna!) we will post a bonus chapter whcih shall include to construction of your prize. Sorry, we can't give you legolas . . .or any other elf of you choice . . . but this is much better - I promise you! **

**Wait...that was it?! I thought there was more!!!! -Mandy**


	22. Bonus Chapter Cellular Palantirs

**Cellular Palantirs**

**Nickel's PoV**

After Melkor's Destruction, several things happened, firstly, every one of our friends who had ever shown up in Middle Earth returned, rather confused, but alright. Within the first week of his appearance, Scott was murdered by a gang of masked people whom I'm pretty sure included Legolas, Gina, and Meagan - led by Amanda. Lisa returned to Lothlorien and established her own little Kingdom convinced she was better than Galadriel at the whole "Lady of the Golden Wood" thing. She eventually sailed West and from what I've heard, became best buds with Galadriel and the two of them would hold "Guess which one is Galadriel" parties.

Kelsey spent six months planning her wedding. Finally, Haldir and I decided that Kelsey needed to relax, so we tossed her onto another flying carpet and Haldir carried her off in a very Vegas style wedding. When she and Haldir came back, she still had her fancy wedding though. It was at the reception that Legolas officially proposed to Mandy. Glorfindel and I had front row seats – we were dancing next to them when he asked her – rather loudly, to. Mandy burst into tears and kissed him. The location of their wedding was difficult to determine (Mandy insisted on having as big - if not, bigger - wedding than Kelsey) – with the elves, or in Minas Tirith with all their other friends? They didn't want to make guests travel too much, but wanted everyone to be there. It was Gimli who – surprisingly – came up with a solution. He's not as dumb as he seems. So Eomer was forced to host a wedding party at the Glittering caves – a pretty place that was large enough and in a suitable location.

Aragorn quickly grew tired of Tomato, Paco, Katie and Taylor's attempts to set the citadel on fire and attempted to send them on an expedition led by Meagan to interact with the Dragons of the North. Of course, this was met with vehement opposition by the rest of us, though Aragorn was bound to have his way eventually.

It was a clear April morning when the messenger arrived at the citadel. Beramir came in as I was eating breakfast with Glorfindel coaxing the guy to eat his yogurt (recipe from Harad, you know, for barbarians, they have surprisingly good food. Sorry to go off on a tangent). Beramir's this tall, skinny guy who can almost beat Glorfindel at horse races – which is saying something. He handed me a nice stack of messages of utterly no importance and helped himself to a muffin at Glorfindel's invitation. (I swear, I'm the only one in Gondor who will eat yogurt.)

Miffed at the slight to my cooking, I threw an olive at Beramir's head. I have incredibly good aim when it comes to throwing food. Unless it's dark. Or when my target is far away. Or – okay, I was just lucky that my shot hit his nose.

"Mandy and Legolas are coming to visit, and so are Kelsey and Haldir." I told him, "I'm glad they finished their honeymoon so quickly."

"Mmm." Glorfindel assented, "We need to do that."

I smiled radiantly, "Whatever, Glor."

That morning, while I was in the process of convincing Aragorn that pyros are different from arsonists, I asked to borrow the palantir.

"Which one?" Aragorn asked, preoccupied with the latest reports of fires in the citadel. He suddenly realized what I'd asked, "WHY?"

"Research purposes. By the way, how many are left?"

Aragorn didn't seem convinced, "There were seven: Minas Tirith's – which doesn't see much anymore -, the one we recovered from Minas Morgul - which is horrible -, the Palantir from Isenguard, the one in the Gray Havens – which only looks westward -, the palantirs of Osgiliath and Amon Sul – both lost -, and another one in Anor – also lost."

"That leaves three palantirs, only one of which actually works." I mused, "Can I please borrow one? I won't hurt it, I swear!"

"What will you do if I don't give it to you?" He asked suspiciously.

"I'll steal it!" I said cheerfully, "But that isn't very nice, so can I borrow it?"

"If you insist." Aragorn sighed, "But don't make me regret this."

I grinned, "You will thank me with all your heart!"

**Glorfindel's PoV**

Nicole had disappeared leaving me rather anxious. It wasn't that she was crazy or irresponsible, I just didn't trust her to not do anything strange. She got enough odd looks. I wasn't ready for her to get strangled by people on the street. She was nowhere in the lower circles or citadel, nor the stables or the pelennor. After searching what may have been the whole city, I heard a yell. Turning, I saw one of the smiths who made jewelry in the sixth circle . . . yelling at a door.

"Now, you have no right whatsoever to lock me out of my shop even if you were the king himself, which you, missy, most definitely are not!"

I had a vague idea as to the identity of the intruder, "Nicole?' I called.

"What is it, Glor?" Came the reply, "I'm busy."

"Do you have to take over his shop?' I asked desperately.

There was silence for a moment, "No, not really. Sorry." After a large amount of banging, Nicole emerged, "but I need to borrow some stuff, "Don't worry, I'll pay for it." She shoved a bag of gold worth more than the jeweler's shop into his hands, quieting any protests, "Come on Glorfindel, I have work to do."

I looked at the pile of tools in her arms, "are you making rings of power again?"

She wrinkled her nose, "What do you mean, again?"

"I mean, what are you doing?"

She glanced at the tools, "Building cellular palantirs."

"What?" I followed Nicole through the city wishing – not for the first time – that Nicole wasn't so secretive, it made me worry.

She shut herself in the tower of Ecthelion that afternoon. In the brief moments before Nicole locked the door in my face, she kissed me lightly and ordered me to, "keep any and all people away from here unless they were suicidally inclined and wanted their head blown off."

"Pleasant." I replied as the door swung shut, wondering why I had to marry the craziest – not to mention most dangerous - person in Arda.

She was in there for three days and three nights. At night, there were flashing lights and loud bangs. And during the day, above the hustle and bustle of the city, horrific shrieks were heard and green flames crawled out the windows, only to be sucked back in every few seconds. Once, a large dragon flew out the window and burst into a thousand stars.

On the third day, just as the sun was setting, Estel and I were walking past the door when it burst open, spilling white light onto the hallway, momentarily blinding us. Nicole came out, holding a small box and a palantir. She handed the palantir to Estel, shutting the door, but not before I saw a mass of twisted, blackened iron at the base of the stairs. I glanced at Nicole, worried, but she just smiled.

"I'm really hungry, anything left from dinner?"

**Mandy's PoV**

**May**

"Look, Legolas!" I cried, 'It's just like you wanted – Minas Tirith is green!"

It wasn't just green, it was a riot of color. Instead of sterile white, bright tiles and warm stucco covered the walls and roof. The new gates, which had been in progress the last time we came, a wall of shining metal set with enameled reliefs of Gondor's lands and past. More than anything, though, was the striking amount of greenery. Garden roofs and flower boxes seemed to be in style as well as hanging gardens and miniature mallorns. Flower beds surrounded the outer wall and trees had lined the roads since we had entered Gondor.

"I wonder whose idea this particular motif was." Legolas commented, examining the gates.

I laughed out loud. In the upper left hand corner, a shining being of gold stood on a ruby carpet. It was tiny, but Nicole could not resist her moment of glory – then again, the carpet had been brilliant.

"Mandy!" I turned to see Kelsey galloping across the pelannor, Haldir following at a more sedate pace.

"Look!" I pointed to the motif after giving hugs all around, "Do you think the rest of us are on here?"

"I don't know." Kelsey's hair blew romantically around her face in a nonexistent wind.

We had no chance to look as a cry went up from the wall and the gate was pulled open. A new blast of color awaited us as we were led up the citadel where the Tower of Ecthelion was the only remaining white in the city.

**Kelsey's PoV**

I sat on Haldir as he tried to tie the laces on his boots that evening, curled up in the circle of his arms.

"Nicole hinted at something spectacular tonight." I told him, "What do you expect?"

Haldir gave the laces up for a lost cause while in this position, "Knowing Nicole, Something unusual yet playing on tradition or past events and either incredibly useful or entirely useless – remember the 'Rings of Power'?"

I giggled, "Yes, I do, but that makes no sense whatsoever, Haldir!"

"How can one be reasonable when he is talking to the most beautiful lady in the universe? I am amazed I can speak at all!"

I whacked him, "Haldir!"

"You don't want any complements?"

"It's not that!" I stretched across the bed, rolling off his knees, "Ow. You're just being silly!"

"Me? Silly? I'll have you know that I am exponentially older than you."

I wrinkled my nose, "What? You? Old – Ha! Anyways, I'm way older than you!"

He poked me.

"Hey! Have you been taking lessons from Glorfindel?"

He pulled his puppy dog eyes – as realistic as my Galadriel eyes (which had earned me the title of "The Second Galadriel" in Rohan where we'd been vacationing) – and his look was totally innocent, "yes."

"UH!" I screamed, throwing a pillow at him.

**Nickel's PoV**

I laughed manically at the ceiling as I braided Glorfindel's hair, "Ha HA ha HA ha HA ha HA ha HA!"

"You're ruining my health." He muttered, "I hear everything in iambic pentameter now."

I stopped, "Does it really bother you or are you just being weird?"

"I'm never weird, but I would like to know why you are laughing maniacly."

I resumed my work, "I'm handing out my cellular planters tonight!"

"Are they deadly? You still haven't described the cellular part."

"You'll see."

"Well that's helpful."

I tied off the braid and pinned back a strand of my own hair, "Allons-y!"

"Could you please stop with the French? It's hard enough to understand you when you speak common!"

I ignored this. Through our time together I had learned how to ignore Glorfindel. He only got more annoying if you let him know he was being pesky. Instead, I busied myself with gathering my things.

Glorfindel followed me out the door to the throne room where our little party would take place. There would be dinner first, then dancing and tea – Mandy and Kelsey's contribution to all of Arda. Mandy seemed to think dinner would remain incomplete without a retelling of the final "destruction" of Melkor – she had, after all, been the only one other than me to be there. And it was at the end of dinner that I gave in to temptation and handed out my gift to everyone.

"Ring's of Power again?" Legolas asked.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." I sniffed.

"So what are they?" Mandy asked.

"Prehistoric style cellular palantirs."

Comprehension dawned first – surprisingly – on Haldir's face, "Like Kelsey's cell phone!" He exclaimed.

"Brilliant, Nickel!" Meagan grinned, "We can ditch messengers when I go away!"

"Of course, that's the point!" I told them, "There are a few extra for the others going with you, Meagan - so you guys can keep in touch with us."

Everyone was pleased with their gift, though Aragorn tried to avoid actually thanking me for it. He failed since Glorfindel dragged him over like he was a small child. But then again, Glorfindel had help to raise the guy - he was within his rights.

* * *

And this is finally the END! sort of. I have a couple of random oneshots to post.

But **FIVE** years of work finally completed. **FIVE **whole years! Thats . . . . a long time.

Thank you for reading and reveiwing. wee love you guys!

-Nickel and Mandi

* * *

So, the poll results - if you noticed the poll.

In first place!

we have a TIE between Penelope and Haldir.

In second place!

we have a 4way TIE between Sauron, Nickel, Kelsey and Mandi

In third place!

we have legolas

and last, with no votes are taylor and Ernie/Morgoth.

I think we had intended to develope Taylor's character a bit more... oh well.


End file.
